Little Spiderhunter #2

Gallery: AvianPosted April 8, 2011197 views21 comments

Canon EOS 7D, EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, Shutter Priority, f/4 (1/500 sec), ISO 640, Exposure Compensation +2/3, Tripod, JPG from RAW, Pretty Large Crop; About 60% from Full Frame

I had to show you at least one one of this series I took of the Little Spiderhunters, and I chose this one specifically to show how perfectly designed their bills/beaks (?) really are :^)

I seriously doubt this one was hunting for spiders up there, but of course I could be wrong … as I often am ;^p

Critique and comments always welcome :^)

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Steve Kennedy on April 8, 2011 at 10:08 PM

Another nice shot Ashley! Again, beautiful light and detail, The background really sets off the scene for me. Beautiful and very well captured. I particularly like the apparent expression on the bird's face. I'm also curious about the very interesting flower.

Registered on March 9, 2009, 79 Posts, 676 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 8, 2011 at 11:53 PM

The beautiful light is really apparent in the larger version. Wonderful subjects, background, colors and detail.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on April 9, 2011 at 12:11 AM

Very nicely done, Ashley! I waited in a montane region of Malaysia in November by a banana flower for the Streaked Spiderhunter to come, but it never did! But, this is exactly the image I had envisaged!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 9, 2011 at 1:04 AM

Excellent illustration of the spidereaters foraging behavior Ashley. The bloom compliments the bird nicely. Nice work on this series.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Myers on April 9, 2011 at 1:17 AM

I don't know which is more fascinating, the bird or the flower, but the combination is terrific. Wonderful clarity and color.

Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 9, 2011 at 7:50 AM

Another beauty Ashley - great comp and setting

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by dan elster on April 9, 2011 at 9:21 AM

I don't know what's more impressive, the bird or the flower. Really sharp too. In the larger version, theres some noise or something in the backround.

Very cool

Registered on September 23, 2005, 299 Posts, 2443 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Olsen on April 9, 2011 at 11:57 AM

Very cool photo of this bird!
The position of the bird, and how it is suited to feed on the flower.
The flower is also interesting as I didn't know this was how they formed.
Also, the background is complimentary and doesn't compete with the main subject.
Sweet combination that I would love to have in my portfolio!!!

Registered on October 19, 2006, 306 Posts, 1571 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on April 9, 2011 at 2:34 PM

Beautiful image here, Ashley. Lovely colors. Pleasing background and nice and sharp. You must really be proud of this one.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Keith A Anderson on April 9, 2011 at 3:42 PM

Wonderful image, Ashley. Love the behavior and the colors of the flower and bg are very complementary of the bird.

Registered on February 13, 2006, 166 Posts, 1818 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 9, 2011 at 5:15 PM

Another excellent image, Ashley. Great pose, colors and composition. The plantain fruit dominates this image, but it's hard to do otherwise with such a small bird.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on April 9, 2011 at 7:00 PM

The techs, color, and comp are superb. Nice work, Ashley.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 9, 2011 at 8:50 PM

Many thanks Steve, Barbara, Kwan, Ken, Craig, Rob, Dan, Richard, Angela, Keith, Govind, and Wayne for your thoughtful comments and kind words, very much appreciated :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 9, 2011 at 9:55 PM

Lovely behavior shot Ashley, both subjects beautiful and sharp. One thing I might try and do is reduce the glare on the top lip of purple part of the flower, that's minor but I think it would improve the image. If you are using CS5 you could use the adjustment tool in ACR to select that area and reduce the exposure there.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 9, 2011 at 11:05 PM

good looking shot, Ashley. I really like the comp, colors, pose, bg, very nice all around. only nit for me is that the crop is revealing some noise in the darker wing and tail feathers.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on April 10, 2011 at 9:21 AM

This is a wonderful shot of both flower and bird! I'm surprised at the detail with the F4, but you captured everything very nicely. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 10, 2011 at 1:08 PM

Wow what a really cool flower. The bird is neat too but that flower is so original. Great image as posted

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 10, 2011 at 8:55 PM

Many thanks Nate, Brian, Sharon, and Cheryl for contributing your kind words and comments :^)

Nate: Thanks for pointing out the glare on the top lip of purple part of the flower, something I hadn't actually noticed before and something I'll definitely work on before going to print ;^)

Brian: Thanks for pointing out the noise in those parts, I'll see if I can reduce them also.

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by John Blumenkamp on April 10, 2011 at 10:44 PM

Hi Ashley... fantastic image of the behavior, and your composition is excellent. A really interesting image to view. I agree about noise in some parts of the image, which you can probably address. Overall an excellent image!

Registered on February 26, 2011, 58 Posts, 313 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Dewhurst on April 11, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Great shot Andy - is it a banana plant?

Oscar

Registered on August 6, 2009, 85 Posts, 502 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 11, 2011 at 11:31 PM

May thanks John and Oscar for taking the time to view and leave comments :^)

Oscar: Yep, it's the flower of a type of banana or plantain plant that grows over here in Thailand and other parts of SE Asia.

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments