The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I have been chasing this guy around the t yard for several days while he chased the females. He eventually perched where I could get within 30 feet. Multiple images were sharp but too dark, requiring 1.5 stops of exposure brightening in LRC. Hand helld.
Specific Feedback
Should I have decreased the shutter speed. How is the noise? Too much crop?
Technical Details
Nikon Z9 Hand held
Sigma 150-500mm contemporary 1.4 TC
f/9
ISO 6400
1/2000 sec
LRC crop and exposure adjustments. Then LRC DN, and sent to PS for smart sharpening slider at 50.
A beauty. The light on the gorget is gorgeous. I like the flowers and color of the background. My only suggestion would be to try to remove the stick behind the head. Your patience paid off with a wonderful image.
Hi Daniel, beautiful subject and I love the color of the gorget. Love the head on look. I also like the composition with the extra sprig on left included. Agree with Allen on removing the stick behind the bird but I don’t think that is a deal breaker for the image if not possible.
Depending on how steady your hand is, I would think you could have decreased shutter speed even hand held and maintained a sharp shot on a perched subject. I typically would try to hold the shutter speed to at least around 1/500s (I have a pretty steady hand) on a still bird. But even more important is the possibility of using support of some kind for the shot such as a monopod in the instance where you are on the move to get the shot. This could help a good deal in steadying your gear and maintaining sharpness at lower shutter speeds especially at that degree of magnification. A tripod would even be more ideal but may not be practical if you are having to chase your subject. Even hand held, I think you could decrease your shutter speed some and perhaps lower the ISO (depending on being able to maintain proper exposure). F9 seems fine to me given the DOF you are going for.
The sharpness of the bird seems to have been affected by something - say a sizeable crop or too much noise reduction or both. I imagine having to raise the brightness that much probably introduced some noise that you had to tame a good bit resulting in loss of detail.
You mentioned using Smart Sharpen in Photoshop. I use this with good results. I start my settings at an amount of 100%, a radius of 0.7, noise reduction at 0, set for removing gaussian blur. I then increase the radius only if I need stronger sharpening.
I’m wondering about the lens you mentioned. Sigma 150-500? Should that be 150-600? The 150-600 is the latest version and my understanding is a good bit sharper than the older 150-500.
I love the gorget and perch, Dan, and the processing looks good for the settings. iso 6400 and 1.5 stops of increase in LR is going to create significant noise to deal with. That’s evident in the difference between the gorget and the rest of the plumage. The gorget has that nice well, defined structure, so it’s easier to deal with the noise than the finer textures in the rest of the bird.
Good advice from Allen on camera support. Another consideration is your methodology. Chasing birds around the yard usually doesn’t get me anywhere. I find it’s much more productive to figure out where they like to perch and set up within reasonable range. The males often like to perch up fairly high and I’ve had reasonable luck setting up a good sturdy ladder with a bean back or other cushion on top and resting my camera on it, then just waiting. You should be able to set up within 15 feet without a problem. Hummingbirds are fairly easily habituated to our presence and many of them seem to come back within half an hour.
Even if you want nice natural perches, hanging a hummingbird feeder fairly close to one you like with good light will make it likely to become occupied (no guarantee of a male, of course).
Thanks for your thoughtful advice. I should be more explicit when I post so as not to misrepresent and perhaps waste others’ time. I am a “hunt and peck” typist and try to keep it to a minimum.
I have a very nice carbon fiber tripod and a Wimberly gimbal. With the camera mounted, I watch where the hummingbirds perch prior to their heading to the feeder, and then set up on the patio or in the yard, trying to get a good background and as close as possible. I consider this a form of " chasing them around".I have used multiple sites. I set the shutter speed too fast, thinking that I would get an image of the bird taking off or landing. No luck. Last year I got some good shots with a d500 but the birds were hovering over flowers. The garden hasn’t bloomed here yet. Maybe better shooting in a couple of weeks.
I don’t do ladders due to my age, a tendency to fall, and a few trips to the hospital in the last few years. However, it does sound like a neat thing to do.
I am thinking of setting up a second feeder near the forest, downhill from where I could comfortably stand to shoot. Right now, I shoot from the patio and yard and can’t seem to get closer than 30 feet.
I am enjoying the learning process and feedback from others on the NPN site.
What a stunning bird! I love the colors and the setting. I do agree you should remove the branch that appears to come out of his head!
If you are a Photoshop user you can do that with the “Patch tool.”
BTW, pat yourself on the back for such an nice catch!
Good catch! Set up the feeder wherever you can sit behind the tripod comfortably and wait of them to come. They don’t care where it is and they are fearless – must think they are Rottweilers. When I refill the feeder (almost daily) they are swarming within a foot of my head. Movement can spook them – for about 2 minutes. Just put up a couple of nice perches in good light near the feeder and wait for them to land.
If you want to get them in flight, tape over all but one feeder port and move it so the sun is behind you and the port is at 90 degrees to your line of sight, and wait for one to feed then pull back briefly. Nail it in that brief moment when it is in a relatively still hover. Move the feeder where you have a nice BG.
