I'm sorry that I haven't be able to reply sooner. Thanks to all that stopped by to take a look at my Snowy pic, and especially appreciative to those who graciously commented. Sometimes things that we "have to" do(work) take precedence over things we would rather be doing , like posting on UHH!

Watched from a distance while this snowy was fishing from the rocks, but I was too far away to get any good pictures. The closer I got, it lost interest in catching dinner, but let me get fairly close.

Oddly enough, there was no post processing directed specifically to the background. The blurred effects are a function of open aperture (f/6.3) and long focal length (300mm) producing a relatively shallow depth of field. The more extreme blurring in the first and third photo is due to the greater distance between the subject and background. I use Nikon View NX2 and Noiseware, and only dabble in GIMP , so I can't really offer any advice on PP other than to search UHH or check for some tutorials on the internet. Thanks for the uplifting compliment.

I'm glad you like them. Thanks for the positive feedback.

My avatar ,"Teddy", is very smart, very loving chow mix that was rescued by my sister-in-law. We're best buds... Teddy and me that is; my sister-in-law, not so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the HB pics. Thanks

The pastels were somewhat of a fluke. The background is actually the neighbor's brick house and yard, and the street that were in bright sunlight. Thanks for looking.

Thank you. My models were really working it , so I had plenty of opportunity to get a few good shots.

Thanks,I guess I was lucky that it needed a breather and stopped long enough to pose.

Thanks, I'm leaning toward #1 as my favorite, also.

Thanks for the three thumbs up!

Thank you. Unfortunately, HBs don't seem to hang around here for very long. I really don't blame them, it's still quite hot and humid.

We live along the Gulf of Mexico where winters are mild, typically. I'm not really a "birder" but it seems that HBs pass through here in March and have pushed northward into the upper Mid-West and Canada by May. Maybe someone out there in UHHogville more knowledgeable than myself could answer that for you, sorry. Thanks for taking the time to look and comment.

Needless to say, hummingbirds are elusive. I didn't think I had the patience or willpower to get these shots. Thank you for the compliment.

Needless to say, hummingbirds are elusive. I didn't think I had the patience or willpower to get these shots. Thank you for the compliment.

Thank you. The closest background was across the street; the lens was almost wide open and zoomed out - the segregation just happened.