Rufous Hummingbird from Madera Canyon

Juan,

Beautiful image! Wonderful work!

Very well done Juan!

Juan,
I think I like this the best of your Arizona hummers. I would get rid of the second catchlight in the eye.

Juan, I am contacting Guido as we speak!!!!
Just killer hummers!!! Congrats!!!

Juan,

This is another excellent hummer shot. I love the position aof the feet and how you captured the tongue.

Juan,

Lovely capture. Is the BG natural?

Jim

Great shot Juan! The only thing I would do is get rid of the double catchlight.

Very nice! The teal background is really unique and I really like the frozen wings.

Very nice, Juan. I agree about the second catch light.

jn

Beautiful, Juan. You have a production line for hummer pics. I, too, would get rid of one catchlight.

Juan:

I hope I don't sound like a hypercritical old grouch, because I know what a technical achievement this shot is. But--to my eyes-- a lot of the multi-flash hummingbird photos I see have an unnatural, shot in the studio look to them, and this is one of them. I guess, more than anything else, it's the colors in the background here that bother me. I like the mottling, but shades of green or earth colors would feel more natural than what you have here.

aj

Very well done Juan! I am a little surprised to see what looks like some ghosting of the birds left wing at this speed.

Thanks for the comments, the background is a piece of cloth from a fabric store. There is some ghosting because is was so bright outside that we actually recorded two images, one frozen with flash and the other one with natural light. I liked the little blurring of the wings to give a feeling of motion.

I know that "natural-taken" hummer pictures are more desirable, however there is always the dilemma of speed VS aperture (Good DOF because they are moving back and forth VS short shutter speed to capture action) since they like shadowed areas it is very difficult go to 1/1000 f/8 so in that case flash came to the rescue: 1/22000 at f/16 !!! but I agree the challenge is to make the setting as most natural as possible. With the use of multiflash systems, natural backgrounds, potted plants etc. may get a little closer. It is very addictive and challenging where creativity and technical skills give boundless opportunities.

Cool shot, check out those feet!

Hey Juan,

Nice shot. As a rule, to prevent ghosting, I always set up in the shade. I agree, it is addictive.

Juan,

Wow, if there were ever a situation where digital pays dividends while in the field, this is it. With film, you'd have no way of knowing if you got anything worthwhile until days later.

This is spectacular - it's all amazing but the background is unbelievable!

Exceptional.