gardnergreg1
Member
We've enjoyed the family all summer - great break from telework...
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Small Backyard Visitor
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Capturingtheunseen.com
Well-known member
Too me, this is a great example of digital art, not photography. It is far too grainy for my taste. Great capture, the processing could be better.
bajadreamer
Well-known member
I agree that the BG is too grainy, but maybe just more effective noise reduction would make a big difference. You caught the light angle very well and got his gorget to light up. Nice job. I would also give him more room on the top and bottom. R & L are fine, but he seems crowded up and down. Although he has a nice catchlight, I think you could darken the pupil and lighten the iris to give the eye a little more life. You have one of the problems I run into constantly-your perch is much brighter than the bird or the BG. Often tough for me to deal with, but I would try to selectively darken (burn). All in all, a beautiful bird captured at a nice angle and lighting.
gardnergreg1
Member
Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately for me these little guys only come out in the evening and so 1600 ISO on a D850, 500pf w/1.4TC, @ 100% crop, the original file is very noisy. Agree there is way more noise than I'd like, and have been experimenting with several solutions for noise including DeNoise AI which I used on this one.
I like the comment regarding the branch - something I didn't see while processing. Toning it down would put a lot more focus on the bird.
Interesting comment regarding digital art vs. photography given almost no processing except for DeNoise AI on the background and a small amount of sharpening on the bird.
I like the comment regarding the branch - something I didn't see while processing. Toning it down would put a lot more focus on the bird.
Interesting comment regarding digital art vs. photography given almost no processing except for DeNoise AI on the background and a small amount of sharpening on the bird.
Great pose with a good out of focus background and great job getting the gorget lit up which is a hit and miss thing with hummingbirds in natural light. I love the rim lighting on the tail feathers that create separation. I agree with the bright perch comment and often burn down bright perches as well.
I think you're mostly running up against the problems with a 1:1 crop. Sure some cropping with small birds and birds in flight is pretty common these days but a lot of what you're seeing with background noise stems from trying to squeeze a bit too much 'digital zoom' out of the sensor. Yeah, I know they're small and often perch a bit farther away than we'd like but if you have feeders out with some well sized perches not too far away or if there's a favorite perch they return to then you should be able to get much close to frame filling images with persistence.
FWIW, I've had hummingbird feeders out for decades now and have photographed the birds when they're around for most of that time. I have a lot of image files where I might get a web shot with some heavy cropping and have done the whole multi-flash scene to freeze them in flight but my favorite shots are those where the birds just cooperate which admittedly doesn't happen as often as I'd like but that's also what makes them special.
Keep with it and you'll get closer and not have to crop so much.
I think you're mostly running up against the problems with a 1:1 crop. Sure some cropping with small birds and birds in flight is pretty common these days but a lot of what you're seeing with background noise stems from trying to squeeze a bit too much 'digital zoom' out of the sensor. Yeah, I know they're small and often perch a bit farther away than we'd like but if you have feeders out with some well sized perches not too far away or if there's a favorite perch they return to then you should be able to get much close to frame filling images with persistence.
FWIW, I've had hummingbird feeders out for decades now and have photographed the birds when they're around for most of that time. I have a lot of image files where I might get a web shot with some heavy cropping and have done the whole multi-flash scene to freeze them in flight but my favorite shots are those where the birds just cooperate which admittedly doesn't happen as often as I'd like but that's also what makes them special.
Keep with it and you'll get closer and not have to crop so much.
I was going to say you should run it through DeNoise AI to clean up the noise. Since you already did, maybe you need to do it again with a higher setting. Mask out the bird so you don’t lose detail, but the bird could use a touch more DeNoise and some more sharpening too.
Mr F Stop.
Active member
I love it. I am no fan of over editing but that should not take anything away from the fact you captured such a brilliant shot. I guess the debate of where photography finishes and digital art starts will always be a hot one.