More hummingbird pix: Can't stop taking them. Yes or no on vignetting?

Overthehill1

Can't stop taking them. Yes or no on vignetting?

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UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Very nice shots of hummers in flowers, not a feeder!

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

UTMike wrote:

Very nice shots of hummers in flowers, not a feeder!

Nice photos. Hummer photos are always a crowd pleaser.
On the fence with the vignette. Maybe try black.

Do you have a program to remove noise?

I'm no expert and hope you don't mind but, removed noise and added a black vignette to one of your photos.

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Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Well shot and well presented

Overthehill1

BooIsMyCat wrote:

Nice photos. Hummer photos are always a crowd pleaser.
On the fence with the vignette. Maybe try black.

Do you have a program to remove noise?

I'm no expert and hope you don't mind but, removed noise and added a black vignette to one of your photos.

Like what you did. Don't have a specific noise reduction program, just what is available on LRC. But what you did is a big improvement, and one that I would like to incorporate. What do you use? If you could direct me to something that tells me how to do it, I would appreciate it.

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

Overthehill1 wrote:

Like what you did. Don't have a specific noise reduction program, just what is available on LRC. But what you did is a big improvement, and one that I would like to incorporate. What do you use? If you could direct me to something that tells me how to do it, I would appreciate it.

I use LRC also but, I find that TopazLabs DeNoise AI works better for noise reduction than LRC does.

With your photo, being that it was a jpg, I couldn't adjust everything but, here is what I usually do with a photo in LRC:

Crop - I do this first thing so that I'm not thrown off and make adjustments that I will probably eliminate later.
Select my Profile - IF I'm going to. I usually set this in-camera.

Adjust Shadows to the right.
Adjust Highlights to the left.
Add a bit of Clarity... no more than 15.

Open the Detail Tab.
Set Amount to 100
Set Radius to the left (all the way)
Press/Hold the option key (Mac) and adjust Masking to my liking... usually around 70.

Adjust Luminance to remove noise as best as I can w/o softening my subject.

I "used" to adjust Luminance via LRC but now, instead, I use a TopazLabs plug-in to DeNoise AI to remove noise. If you install DeNoise, it installs the plug-in so that you can use it right in LRC via Photo/Edit In....

My last step was to open the Effects tab.
Move the Amount slider to the left to about 40.
Move the Feather slider to the right to about 70.

The "trick" with adding a vignette is to make it so slight that only experienced people can tell it's there.

If you get a good photo in-camera, you will find there is little more than what I explained above to make it an outstanding photo.

Obviously, local adjustments, etc., can do even more but... that's for another day.

DrJoeS Loc: Tampa Bay area (FL)

Good vignettes are hard to do, but I like these. I have never seen a live, wild hummingbird and would love the chance to shoot one.

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

DrJoeS wrote:

Good vignettes are hard to do, but I like these. I have never seen a live, wild hummingbird and would love the chance to shoot one.

Hummingbirds are a rare find in Florida but, they can be found occasionally.

Watching hummingbirds sip nectar from flowers is an absolute treat!

I am focused this summer on trying to make a video of my hummers bathing when my sprinkler system turns on.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Overthehill1 wrote:

Can't stop taking them. Yes or no on vignetting?

Eye-catchingly spectacular 💚❤️🌟❤️💚

Overthehill1

BooIsMyCat wrote:

I use LRC also but, I find that TopazLabs DeNoise ... (show quote)

Thank you. I try to use 1000 ISO or less on my hummingbird shots and apply the luminance adjustment in LRC but clearly more noise reduction is needed. I'll check into program you mentioned..

BooIsMyCat Loc: Somewhere

Overthehill1 wrote:

Thank you. I try to use 1000 ISO or less on my hummingbird shots and apply the luminance adjustment in LRC but clearly more noise reduction is needed. I'll check into program you mentioned..

In my opinion, ISO over 400 with hummingbirds requires noise reduction software.
Unfortunately, capturing hummers in flight sometimes requires a much higher ISO.

Bubalola Loc: Big Apple, NY

Overthehill1 wrote:

Can't stop taking them. Yes or no on vignetting?

Very good work, Overthehill!