A Bit of a Display

A female Rufous Hummingbird with a bit of an aggressive display at the feeder. Things were getting crowded for awhile yesterday and there were two other females where this one wanted to go and a bit of a tiff followed.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

I cloned out the out of focus heads of the other two females and cropped the feeder out.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, tripod with ball head and Sidekick, f/8, 1/1600, iso 1600, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Neatimage for noise reduction and Topaz detail to bring out plumage detail. A bit of cloning and a content aware crop (just adding a touch on the bottom).

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WOW, this is gorgeous. I love the wing position, the orientation of the bird, and the tonality. I could wish for a little more DOF to get the wing sharp, but it’s really not a big deal at all. Did you use flash for this, Dennis?

Dennis, wonderful in flight photo…:+1:
The comment about a bit of a tiff with hummers is almost a given. Our feeders are always full and they still have a go at each other…:clown_face:

Hi Adhika. I’ve never gotten into the multi-flash setups for Hummingbirds, though I keep thinking about it. So, no, I didn’t use flash. The wing blur is motion, which I like for these birds, though I do admire those like Keith Bauer that really have the flash dialed in and stop the wing motion.

You and me, Dennis. I have always wanted to at least learn something about it.

Another great Hummer. Nice clone-job, as I can’t tell :wink: … Hope to see some myself on my next (very) brief US trip. Cheers, Hans

Hans, if you do make it to Southern California, let me know. It would be good to get together!

Thanks, Adhika, not this time (alas), I’ll have 2,5 days in de Denver Area for myself before work starts :wink: - Hopefully some other day ! Best, Hans

Hi Adhika: If you’re not familiar with him already, Glenn Bartley form Victoria, Canada has a nice ebook called “Flash Simplified”. He’s definitely a bird photographer, so it’s from that point of view. He also references someone else’s book specifically for Hummingbird Setups. I do wish someone ran workshops more locally for this-they all seem to be in Central America.

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Thank you so much for this book, Dennis! Although I don’t know Glenn personally but I am familiar with his work. I have never heard of this ebook before though!

Yes, hummingbird behavior is very fascinating!
A wonderful image with excellent detail, color, and background. I am still in Costa Rica and the multi flash setups have been used several times here. It is definitely complicated with respect to the positioning of the five flashes to the texture of the backgrounds. A lot of trial and error to get everything just right. You want the best exposure and no shadows. And then you need to have 5 off camera fla$hes and the fla$h on your camera$ …