My Quest In Life

The perfect photograph of a hummingbird. I think I took a step closer today. Same shot, obviously one is cropped. Hope you like (it) them.

CF

Yeah well done. maybe a bit less of a dof, where everything is blured and the humming bird super sharp. i'm sure it's pretty tough shooting those birds. I don't think I've ever seen one even.

The dof is the only thing I see too but then I know its difficult to choose between shutter speed and and dof as they aren't easy to focus on.
This is a good one.
I'm curious as to what you would call a "perfect" one. Blurred wings or frozen?

Leels it looks like you are at the northern edge of the ruby throated hummers ground.
Put out a hummingbird feeder in the spring and maybe you'll get lucky.

Frog/Leels:

Thanks very much for the comments. Regarding the dof, and Frog you hit it, choosing between shutterspeed and dof presents a problem. In this situation the bird was deep inside a thick stand of this flowering bush with very little room to maneuver let alone be picky about dof. But, I truly understand the suggestion. My perfect shot has more detail within the frozen wings and the color of the feathering around the neck and face fully illuminated. I have other shots where the feathers are brilliant ruby red, but I missed the focus. Not sure of the territory of the ruby throated hummers but they are prevalent in San Diego. I have three feeders in my yard which get constant attention. This shot was taken at Balboa Park. Thanks again.

CF

This is a very nice photo. Normally I would like the closer crop but I think I am leaning toward the original. It looks to me that the crop is a little darker and doesn't have as much detail as the lighter original, Jeff

(I'm assuming you want the humming bird to be the subject of interest in this photograph) The background is too busy and the bird looks kind of dark (it was in the shadow). If you have used some fill flash, it should help. As for the background, I don't think you could keep the background blurred enough even with a larger aperture because the bird was simply too close to the branches.

Good try anyhow. And I hope you will have another chance to photo more hummers and in a better environment.

You nailed the focus and wing position but missed the decisive moment (when the tip of the bill is just about to go in, or when the tongue shoots out, or when the bill is open, etc) so to me, it feels a tad static.

But the background is definitely too distracting. Go in closer with a longer telephoto to throw the background OOF more. But definitely wait for the hummers to hit a preselected placement that optimizes your shooting angle. The hard part is ignoring the hummers until they occupy that space.

Keep it up!

Loupey,

The preselected location is a great suggestion. I really appreciate you putting that out there for me as it is exactly opposite of how I have been shooting.

Thanks,

CF