Experiment

Gallery: AvianPosted July 20, 2014149 views8 comments

I'm not sure if this works at all. I suspect it won't with a lot of people, however, I find the composition does draw my eye to the hummer and in-focus flower, so I don't mind the big oof one hiding most of the bird. I'd be interested in others feeling toward this.

1Div, 500mm f4 ISL + 2.0TC, Jobu gimbal on RRS legs, f8, 1/500, iso 800, -1/3 stop exposure compensation, aperture priority, pattern metering. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Cropped to 9.7MP from an original 16. Taken in the backyard on July 1st at 6:11 am.

Your opinions would really be appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on July 20, 2014 at 10:32 PM

Dennis,
Looks like a flower spider trying to eat the hummer. This is very, very interesting. I really like this a lot. I don't think this could work with just any flower but this one works for me. As usual, tack sharp head and eye and a perfect window to eye through the two flowers. Totally unique in every way. Start the list off with a keeper from me. Interested to see what others say so I'll be checking back in to see if I've lost my mind or not. :))

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 20, 2014 at 10:35 PM

Dennis,
This is very unusual indeed, and like you I am a little unsure, but it us a definite KEEPER

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Barb Pflaum on July 20, 2014 at 11:09 PM

I think being able to see the tack sharp eye and the beak going into the flower help to make this image work. Also people often see hummingbirds partially covered by a flower so this is a realistic portrail of what people often actually see. I think it's a cool image and I like it.

Registered on January 14, 2009, 316 Posts, 2724 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on July 21, 2014 at 1:52 AM

It's interesting, Dennis, but I don't think it does justice to the bird...

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on July 21, 2014 at 1:35 PM

I think this would work as a vertical crop with most of the OOF flower out of the picture but it really depends on what you like. If you can ever get the hummer in clear view this would make a wonderful shot with that background and red flower.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 22, 2014 at 9:45 PM

I like the fact you stepped outside of the box Dennis and think you almost got there with this one, but it doesn't quite hit it off for me. I think if the head was completely visible and the rest of the body was completely concealed, it would work better...for me anyway. Still really happy to see you trying new stuff and not staying stagnant in your work like many of us do.

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

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 23, 2014 at 6:00 PM

Dennis, I was "passing through" avian and your conventional hummer title caught my eye, and had me thinking of a smart alec response. Then I read your post and had to see what an unconventional hummer looked like. I think this is a neat experiment that comes pretty close to being outstanding. I really like that you were able to get a clean look at the eye in this and all of the sharpness in the front flower. In spending some time looking, I think that this could work well if your point of view were further around to the right so that the oof flower wasn't blocking so much of the hummer (the head in particular). I like the sharp flower where it is, but could also see moving it into the frame a bit more, which would also happen if you moved right.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Jablonski on July 23, 2014 at 8:54 PM

Nice shot Dennis! It doesn't work for me, but that is the beauty of photography......everyone sees it differently

Registered on March 1, 2014, 24 Posts, 43 Comments