Backlight - Is this more like it

[Bonhomme Richard]

[Bonhomme Richard]

1. Or this one I took a couple of weeks ago.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

2. I'm no expert but

this is how I interpret backlit. It washes out most detail, imho :shrug:

[Celebration]

3. this sure looks backlit to me

Look at the light shining through the wings. You can tell it is coming from the back because the rest of the hummingbird is dark. This photo is lovely, really. It has such an ethereal feel.

It looks like the light is first getting filtered through a tree, but it hig the wing exactly right.

I give this photo a big thumbs up, both for being backlit, and for overall quality.

[Mira]

4. I sat on my hands til Celebration weighed in, did not want to yell YES first.

If ever I have a photo like that with a hummer in flight I'll probably sit on them for the rest of my life and say "my work is done".
:)

I also like the light in the feeder.
Is there any way you could de-emphasize the feeder a little and have more background around the bird? I don't know if there was a crop and that maybe some area is available to the left of the bird, that could then be taken away on the right of the feeder.
No matter though. It's great, and would be IMO a very worthy entry.

[Bonhomme Richard]

5. Thanks for you help. Two others I got today..

I didn't have a lot of room in the shot to the left of the bird. I was working with a tripod and the birds were very skittish so I had to focus manually then stand still with the release in my hand so I didn't spook them. LOL, it took hours.
These shots are the same bird.

[Mira]

6. OMG - it's so fun and so good!

I once tried to get hummer photos and gave up to leave it to pros like you !!!!!

But I'm the queen of crops in my own mind - so with no extra on the left available, I would try to play with the bottom photo and see what it would look like with a little less than the right half of the feeder all gone, the top of the photo being a bit beyond the water line in the feeder to preserve that it also is back lit and cut the top to just keep the little lit squiggle to the left of the feeder, and then see if you cut the feeder just short of the right at the right edge of the dark leaf in the center, it may look like a faux repeat of the weight of the bird and create an interesting balance.

(can you tell I have been editing and looking at some voluminous stuff for the last hour or so. My camera was bursting with back lit attempts today, and I have not worked this hard to shoot for an entry since last Autumns seasonal submissions, when I in my last frustrated minute cropped something down and submitted it)

I hope you don't mind so much input. It's just food for playing with the crops, and for a change it's not my own.

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. LOL, "pros like you". I really am a newbie at this.

I will play with your suggestions and see what happens. It's funny, I posted the other day that I have been lazy about framing the shot because I could take care of it with cropping so today I was more focused on framing and that is why I didn't leave much space to play with. That and the subject is so small is zoomed into the shot area. Sometimes you can't win.
Thanks for your input as I could use any help I can get.
All of a sudden I decided to put my mind to and get serious about two things. One is getting to be a better lead player on the guitar and the other was photography.

[Bonhomme Richard]

8. Went back and played with the image more.

OK but I have time to work on getting a better shot before the contest begins.

[Mira]

9. what do you think? I think

:thumbsup: all the way

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. I think I need a better, crisper shot.

I like the crop but I think there is way too much noise. Kind of reminds me of 30 years ago when I thought I wanted to get into wildlife photography and went to a seminar at Leonard Lee Rue III's (famous wildlife photographer at the time) house and one thing he said stuck with me. He said it doesn't matter if you had to hang by your ankle from a helicopter 1,000 feet in the air to get the shot. If it's a lousy shot it's a lousy shot. Not saying it's a bad shot but it could be better. I'll see what I can come up with that could stand the cropping without loosing too much clarity.
You were spot on.

[Mz Pip]

11. Better?

Better than these? These are wonderful. I don't see how you can improve upon what is close to perfect.

Seriously, these are marvelous examples of backlit shots. snap snap two :thumbsup:

[Bonhomme Richard]

12. Thanks. I want to see if I can get a crisper image.

There seems to be a lot of noise. Might not be able to but I will give it a try. I'm not sure how to do it because these were shot with a tripod and release but maybe playing with different ISO, shutter speeds and aperture settings. LOL, assuming the hummingbirds are willing to go along.

[Mira]

13. I'm really ignorant about what I'm about to say, and I should therefore shut up already

but is what you are calling noise what the photographers call BOKEH, and what gives this photo such charm? I hope the more experienced folk, such as Mz Pip, will come in and give their opinions.

To have the backlit wing, a HUMMER in focus, a background with great interest of a highly desirous kind, and the feeder to corroborate the backlit image, you can't hope for much more.

[Bonhomme Richard]

14. LOL, it's probably just me. There is just something.....

that bugs me and I can't put a finger on it and maybe it's not doable with the gear I have.
I really appreciate the input because you, and others here, have a lot more experience at this stuff than me.

[CC]

17. It is perfect for the

contest and a beautiful photo. Now on the noise, I can see what you are talking about. It is mostly showing in the but seriously doubt I would of noticed without your pointing the way. Remember, film had grain and it too could of been looked at as "noise". Keep this one to use, it does and will work but keep on trying for what you see in your mind's eye, that is how we all learn and improve.

[alfredo]

15. Excellent. Love the Bokeh

[Bonhomme Richard]

16. LOL, now I had to look up Bokeh.

I get it now.

[Bonhomme Richard]

18. Thanks for the input. I am going to leave this one be and move on. n/t

[CC]

19. Somehow the words

green/yellow disappeared in the middle of my sentence. Blaming it on multitasking. Wonder who is trying to figure out why I typed color names out of no where for no reason. lol

[Bonhomme Richard]

20. Funny, I seriously thought that you left out the extra....

T on but and were talking about the hummingbirds rear. Now it makes sense...Ha,ha.