Part of the problem of photographing hummingbirds that come to a feeder is not wanting a feeder in the shot--I had fun this morning with this young male, who has one singular patch growing on his neck on the other side (natch), so I worked with cropping and angling. Also, because the shot was not in the best light (you can see it is great beyond my fence where the green hue is), I decided to use "P" on my camera setting to set with a preference to ISO, not shutterspeed. I hope to get back out this afternoon.
I also used less clarity in processing, almost going my opposite inclination--because the only section really in focus is the head, the rest works better as a blur in my mind. What do you think?
I feel your frustrations with catching a good shot but you seem to have overcome them! this is beautiful with the motion blur of the wings. I have not been able to do this well yet.
Yes, I agree...I prefer not to include the feeder...so, sometimes I cheat and clone it out. And, I think it's good to have some blur in the wings and the softening of the clarity has a very pretty effect!
@nanderson@jo13@grammyn@nicholemm Thanks all! I still hope to hit outside in the afternoon light where I can use a shutterspeed setting over aperture. It's amazing I know this stuff now. I was just looking over my "year" so far and it's been a serious learning curve.
Fab shot! The head is in focus and you caught a wonderful catchlight in his eye. That the rest of the bird is blurry just emphasizes the fact that Hummers are speedy little motion machines!
While looking at the ugly wasps today, a hummingbird flew right up to me, paused, and flew away, and I didn't even raise my camera, I was so dumbfounded. You got a great shot!
I totally agree that feeders are intrusive. So much better to get a natural look, and in the case of a hyperactive hummingbird, blur is part of that look. I think you did well.
The spot cloner in LR's really intuitive and not at all intimidating.