My birding activities are basically on hold for the time being since I am nursing a rotator cuff injury. But that gives me some time to go over images that were taken in the past, like this set from Ecuador in 2022.
The location is not a feeding station but at an area of lush purple flower shrubs. These small hummingbirds are fast and move around quite a bit and the bushy surrounding makes it not easy to get clear shots. When agitated, for example in the presence of a competitor, the males raise their face feathers and at a certain angle, the feathers turn bright and intense green.
The depth-of-field wasn’t enough to get both of them in focus shown in #5. So, I shifted to focus point from one to the other and focus-stacked them afterwards in PP. After that, they both hovered away, facing each other for a while as depicted in #5, which is not focus-stacked.
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any feedback,
Joshua
Edit - I messed up during the initial upload and somehow the first image is not depicted as a thumbnail. So, I removed the first image but I couldn’t reload it in the original sequence. So, I uploaded #1 as the last one in the thread. Sorry….
These are great Joshua. I really. like #6 and #8. While the colors are nicer on #5 compared to #6, I like the outstretched feet on #6. Hopefully the rotator cuff heals soon.
G.E. Smith wrote:
Joshua - What a beautiful hummingbird. Fantastic set !
Greg
Greg, thank you for stopping by and for your kind words!
dj_hess wrote:
These are great Joshua. I really. like #6 and #8. While the colors are nicer on #5 compared to #6, I like the outstretched feet on #6. Hopefully the rotator cuff heals soon.
Dave
Thank you very much for your kind compliment, Dave!
Thank you, again, and yes, it will take several weeks, requiring diligent exercises and stretches. Thankfully, the pain is decreasing.
As a recently retired plumber of over 30+ years, I was fortunate not to require surgery but have had multiple steroid treatments so feel your pain, so to speak. 😉
I hope you recover quickly - and listen to your therapist!
It's not good that you are injured, but it is good that you finally processed these images.
They're beautiful!
I like the perched shots in the natural setting, #2,3,9.
Catching two in flight and in focus is a good trick.
George Welch wrote:
Delightful series Joshua - very enjoyable.
As a recently retired plumber of over 30+ years, I was fortunate not to require surgery but have had multiple steroid treatments so feel your pain, so to speak. 😉
I hope you recover quickly - and listen to your therapist!
Cheers,
George
Thank you very much, George! And yes, not surgery for me, too and I am doing my physical therapy diligently. Just the progress seems to be slow...
dclark wrote:
It's not good that you are injured, but it is good that you finally processed these images.
They're beautiful!
I like the perched shots in the natural setting, #2,3,9.
Catching two in flight and in focus is a good trick.
Dave
Thank you very much for your kind words, Dave! Yes, it is some kind of a double edge sword.
johnohio wrote:
Stunning shots ! Beautiful subject, beautiful work !
John
Thank you very much for your kind compliment, John!
what a superb set of photos. hummingbirds can have the most fascinating colors that appear irridescent at time. sorry to hear about your rotator cuff injury. as a retired nurse, i caution you not to rush your recovery. let it heal fully before returning back to normal activity. many people get inpatient, start doing things before the shoulder is ready, and they wind up with a more serious injury than they originally had. as has already been said, your downtime did give you time to share these pictures with others. thanks for sharing.
osidesurfer wrote:
Beautiful shots of a beautiful bird.
Kevin
Thank you very much, Kevin!
wonderer wrote:
Gorgeous set, Joshua!
What an intriguing bird, so beautifully photographed in a variety of poses.
Your clever treatment of the two birds together came out really well--doubly good!
Thanks for sharing these--a beautiful bird species I don't remember seeing here before.
Kim
Thank you very much for your kind words, Kim! I am glad you like the images.
morris wrote:
Ouch! Get well soon Joshua.
Why have you been holding these back? They are super. The two in the frame together are over the top
Morris
Thank you very much, Morris! Well, I take a lot of images from various travels. I processed a few but didn’t have the urge to process enough to be worth posting. Thank you also for the best wish!
