Contortionist

Gallery: AvianPosted May 16, 2012117 views11 comments

Sorry for my absence on this forum. Life has been crazy lately, but I'm hoping it will settle down soon. We actually had a few days of sunny mornings with no fog and I managed to get out at the crack of dawn on Sunday. The female Rufous Hummingbirds were up and at the feeders early and between drinks this one did some preening. Wish I could bend like this. If you look very closely you can see a hint of catchlight from one eye, though I know this is hardly conventional.

1DIV, 500mm ISL + 1.4TC, Black Widow on RRS legs, Av mode with -2/3 compensation, iso 640, f13 (I had just been trying to get two of them together), 1/400. Normal processing in CS5. Cropped to 7.7MP.

I always look forward to your comments and criticisms.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Alan Murphy on May 17, 2012 at 1:46 AM

A wonderful behavior shot. Nice framing too.

Registered on December 3, 2003, 192 Posts, 739 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on May 17, 2012 at 3:38 AM

A pretty cool shot Dennis

An unusual but great preening pose. A pleasure to view the large version.

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Geoff Powell on May 17, 2012 at 9:01 AM

Fabulous pose and detail. Well done.

Registered on March 20, 2012, 21 Posts, 170 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on May 17, 2012 at 8:50 PM

love the comp with the curving perch and pose, Dennis. good pose, light and bg too. I like that little bit of eye showing.

I went out and shot today for the first time in ages, but nothing to show for it. hopefully soon!

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 18, 2012 at 7:43 AM

A great comp Dennis. Neat behavior. Nice light too.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 18, 2012 at 9:27 AM

Neat pose Dennis, looks like it's scratchin' its head..
Well composed with nice details, like the the light area BG that parted just for the hummer here

Have a great weekend

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 18, 2012 at 12:09 PM

Glad you finally got some light on this Dennis and good to see you back. I was missing for awhile myself. Love the colors,d entail and pose. Nice that you managed to get any eye at all with this pose.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on May 19, 2012 at 12:33 AM

Very cool Dennis, what an interesting pose. If you could pull any more light out of the bird's eye I think that would make this fine image even better.

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on May 19, 2012 at 3:47 PM

Very sharp and detailed, and great colors. I wonder how it would look to lighten the shadow on the bottom side of the head just a little bit.

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

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on May 19, 2012 at 4:53 PM

Interesting, if unflattering capture, Nice techs.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by keith mitchell on May 20, 2012 at 4:40 AM

Dennis very different and all the better fior it,really like this.

Keith.

Registered on July 12, 2008, 127 Posts, 1735 Comments