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Through diaphanous wing
1st PlaceThrough diaphanous wing
strangeghost


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Motion Blur II (Advanced Editing IV*)
Camera: Canon EOS-10D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM
Location: Near Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Date: Jun 23, 2006
Aperture: f/5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/1250
Galleries: Nature, Animals
Date Uploaded: Jun 25, 2006

I didn't know about this challenge until returning from my New Mexico trip. I shot hundreds of hummers and most of my attempts were to freeze the wings, even boosting the ISO in low light situations to achieve that stop-motion effect. When I saw this challenge, I selected the best of my "blurred" shots in a last ditch attempt to get a photo in this challenge.

Post-challenge:
Wow, didn't expect that. This was a fairly severe crop - see below. Someone commented that it might be more of an oof wing than a motion blur wing and I think there's some truth to that. The weird BG color came from my levels and curves adjustment to boost the brightness of the hummer. I wasn't paying attention to what happened to the background and this odd beige was the result. I wish now I had desaturated it a bit.

Here is the uncropped, unedited original shot. You can see what a lot of editing was needed:



Here are a few other shots taken that week, mostly to try to freeze the wings, not capture the blur:

Link

Thanks to everyone who voted. No 1's or 2's at all!!

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 177
Avg (all users): 7.0784
Avg (commenters): 8.0000
Avg (participants): 6.8961
Avg (non-participants): 7.1890
Views since voting: 15720
Views during voting: 431
Votes: 204
Comments: 71
Favorites: 12 (view)


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AuthorThread
02/02/2007 03:29:47 PM
Congratulations on two blue ribbons
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/12/2006 09:16:05 PM
Hey John: quite a capture here and my warmest congratulations on your Blue. Sailed all summer and missed a few challenges.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
08/21/2006 12:39:53 PM
One of the best yet.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/09/2006 03:59:07 PM
Congratulations!!!!!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/07/2006 03:04:28 PM
This is just crazy good! Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/07/2006 11:33:55 AM
Congrats on your ribbon with this fluttering masterpiece :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/06/2006 06:48:46 PM
Well deserved win. Lovely subject too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/05/2006 10:41:14 AM
congrats, great capture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/05/2006 08:40:28 AM
excellent, congratulations ...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/05/2006 02:47:30 AM
a too tight crop but a wonderful shot anyway.
Bravo!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 09:46:17 PM
Congratulations John! Great shot and a well deserved win!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 08:52:07 PM
Congratulations on the Blue! Very nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 07:37:59 PM
Beautiful capture and wonderful colours. Congratulations!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 05:53:25 PM
Congrats on the win John!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 10:29:16 AM
Congratulations on your ribbon! Great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 05:29:56 AM
Congrats on a well deserved blue ribbon. Great capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/04/2006 01:40:39 AM
Congratulations. Great capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 09:37:47 PM
Oh what a well deserved ribbon! Lovely shot. Such clarity. Really comes alive. MMM
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 01:12:29 PM
very nice.

i can't tell you how jealous i am i've been trying to get a shot of one of these litle guy for awhile...its the exact same type of bird to red neck and all..i'm not sure the kind of humming bird. but hey its ok i'll just sit here and stare for the next min. or to then i'll use it as model shot for when ever i can find and take the one i'm stocking.

again nicly done, and congrats on the blue

(say when can we get together so an astro shoot?)

_brando_
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:28:30 PM
Congratulations! A beautiful image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 09:53:22 AM
congrats a well deserved win!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 09:02:54 AM
I knew that a hummingbird would have a good chance to win this, especially a nicely shot one like this. Congrats on first place. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 07:46:29 AM
Congratulations on an excellent image and on your well deserved blue ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 04:44:36 AM
Congrats John, a fine image that was very nicely edited.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 04:20:38 AM
Congrats on the win, it´s all or nothing for you apparently when you decide to ribbon :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 02:12:57 AM
clap clap clap
little room to go wrong?
good job
!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 01:39:24 AM
Ohmygoodness! I missed this when voting! You obviously didn't need my vote, but it would have been a 10!!! This is aMAZING!!! Those colors! Wow and congratulations! Not only on the blue ribbon, but on taking such an absolutely PERFECT photo!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 01:04:56 AM
Way to go John, really good to see your name and image on page 1!!

Cheers,

Maya
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:56:19 AM
Wonderful Broad-tailed. I wasn't able to hit any feeders, so I did kayakers (100+ shots). Congratulations on the well deserved "Blue". Van
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:48:52 AM
For a severe crop this looks pretty damn sharp unless of course you didn't even resize it. Regardless, it's great capture. Next time don't cheap out and instead get a 500mm L lens. :P
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:45:40 AM
Congratulations, a beautiful hummer & worthy winner. I'd be interested in looking at some of those near impossible to obtain "frozen" wings fotos.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:30:25 AM
WOW, this is cool John, Congrates on another Blue. One of the very few 10 I gave in this challenge.

Message edited by author 2006-07-03 00:31:22.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:23:07 AM
The blurred wings really suits these birds. Congrats on this excellent execution. Well deserved blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:11:32 AM
Congratulations on your well-deserved blue! Absolutely beautiful shot. Amazing clarity and color.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:10:24 AM
gorgeous shot...congrats on the blue! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:10:24 AM
Congrats...it's a lovely shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:10:12 AM
Great shot. Did you get a good shot without wing blurr? If so how about posting it for us to see?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:09:05 AM
WTG! One of my favorites!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/03/2006 12:08:35 AM
Congratulations on a magnificent shot John, it really has a WOW factor and suited the challenge well
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/02/2006 09:49:01 PM
lovely capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 08:35:51 PM
beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 07:12:55 PM
Ohhh, a ruby-throat! I am such a sucker for hummingbirds. Nice clarity on a speedy subject!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 04:14:26 PM
Very nice capture. Little buggers are hard to photograph!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 02:57:42 PM
I think you have a winner here. This is SIMPLY STUNNING! If only the background did more for your photo. That beige is not very flattering. But your use of motion blur is amazing/
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 09:37:49 AM
The details in this image are simply stunning. I can hardly wait till the results are in to find out what lens you used in this instance. This is definitely a winner in my books. Good luck in the challenge
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 08:12:02 AM
great job. I didn't even know they looked like that on thier head.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/02/2006 12:02:03 AM
Well captured. And great colours.

But the wings seem more like they're just out of focus, rather than blurred.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/01/2006 11:59:49 PM
Very good work. I'm curious about the background color though. Still, the colors on the birds head are excellent, and the motion of the wings tells a tale of speed. Great work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/01/2006 09:24:16 PM
awesome image...crop may be a little tight; colors are beautiful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/01/2006 07:21:56 PM
Now this is beautiful. Fantastic colours and angle.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/01/2006 09:49:06 AM
This is one of the best images in this challenge. Well done. The body is so sharp and still yet the wings are in seeming constant motion. My highest score in the challenge ~9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
07/01/2006 06:51:59 AM
Nice capture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/30/2006 11:12:16 PM
THis is a great capture. The red throat looks a bit pink on my screen
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/30/2006 07:59:28 PM
Gorgeous! Been trying all week to get a decent capture of one of these babies. This one is just phenomenal. A 10 from me! Good luck!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/29/2006 10:20:13 PM
Now how the hell did you get this! Great shot! Best so far! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/29/2006 09:55:16 PM
impossible !! ... impressive texture and a great portrait that it descriptive of the bird. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/29/2006 01:25:24 PM
Nice Catch - I am not crazy about that background color, but in a case like this you take what you can get. - 7 Good Luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/28/2006 07:35:40 PM
Get out!Is that a real bird?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/28/2006 05:40:57 PM
I wished some of these little Fellas lived in the North East of England.
this ones bang on the money for me
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/28/2006 04:36:18 PM
Great Capture! a tough shot to get, but you seemed to nail it. Good job using a large aperture to soften the background. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 05:07:06 PM
this is a real nice shot. i wish the background was a darker color tho, that would make the bird pop out. 8.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 04:02:37 PM
great capture, nice and sharp where it should be, and nice and blurred in the same respect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 03:57:56 PM
Wow, amazing detail with great blur in the wings!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 12:39:01 PM
The head is amazingly crisp, I like the motion blur in the wings. Very good!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 10:42:55 AM
Absolutely stunning.

Of course it helps that I'm a birder, but this is the best of the challenge!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 07:32:45 AM
Great capture, you really sense the frantic motion of the wings, yet you have managed to keep sharp focus on the eye. Well done an 8 from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 04:44:14 AM
Great capture. You've done well to isolate the stationary head without any blur.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 01:41:18 AM
oh my, THAT is hard to do! My hat's off to you for the sheer technical firepower here. The background being so plain hurts this from a compositional standpoint - but MAN, WHAT A SHOT! 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/27/2006 12:21:32 AM
This is just gorgeous!!! Such crystal clear focus on his head. One of the best hummingbird shots I've ever seen. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/26/2006 11:13:06 PM
great sharp capture...maybe a nice thick frame might have lifted this a bit???

exclennet...well done, I hope this shot does really well for you
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/26/2006 02:10:48 AM
Very nice capture, I really like this one. perfect blur,(any less and it would have been DNMC) Great colors, nice and sharp, soft light colored background allows us to see the far wing and helps the bird stand out. I think you have a ten here!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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