Hummingbirds

[dvtldav]

Here is a picture I took in July and would like to know what I should improve on. I know that the ISO should be lower, and the aperture should be a one or two stops smaller, I have learned that from just reading this forum but what else do I need to improve on? I did a little work on this in LR3.
I have more hummingbird pictures in Flickr but have figured out to link to them yet.



Camera: Canon XSi
1/250 sec @ f/5.6
Lens 55-250 mm @ 250 mm
ISO 800

Thanks in advance for viewing and for your comments. Tell me what I need to do to get better.

Dave

[mazzachre]

It looks to me like some of the lighter areas are burning out. That makes the flower (Or pinkish blob) in the foreground somewhat unattractive.

A little more depth of field would probably not hurt, but you should not take it any slower (or faster) than this picture, so that will be hard. It is slightly soft and you can possibly make it much better by using unsharpen mask in photoshop selective on the bird.

I love the composition and colors (If the flower was a bit darker), the red/green and with the bird as focal point makes for a very attractive image. Going from here to perfect is a matter of getting the feathers sharp and the flower to not burn out.

[dvtldav]

Originally Posted by mazzachre

It looks to me like some of the lighter areas are burning out. That makes the flower (Or pinkish blob) in the foreground somewhat unattractive.

A little more depth of field would probably not hurt, but you should not take it any slower (or faster) than this picture, so that will be hard. It is slightly soft and you can possibly make it much better by using unsharpen mask in photoshop selective on the bird.

I love the composition and colors (If the flower was a bit darker), the red/green and with the bird as focal point makes for a very attractive image. Going from here to perfect is a matter of getting the feathers sharp and the flower to not burn out.

Thanks for the comments. I am glad you like the photo.
The pinkish blob is a hummingbird feeder and it is a darker red than it shows here. I adjusted the photo some in LR3 to eliminate some of the red reflection on the birds chest. I have PS CS5 & PSE9 but am not very proficient in either yet but I may try to darken the feeder in one of those.