Ruby-throated Hummingbird -------
My photography friend Kevin stopped in this evening and we had a good time aiming our lenses at hummingbirds and the House Wrens. But most importantly we exchanged thoughts and stories about recent trips and what we learned in the process. Kevin had some questions about my workflow in post process and I showed him how I process my wildlife photography images. I used a photo from last evening, the one of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird shown above, to walk him through the process how things are done in my tiny world of photography.
And here is the thing, for me a published result is not necessarily the end of the story. When I showed Kevin my processing steps I did not crop the original image. There was a little more background on each side of the picture and because of the way the subject is laid out, I played the card of negative space over detail in the subject. Later this evening, back at the computer screen, I zoomed in slightly closer (sounds better than “I cropped the picture”…😉) and actually liked it better this way.
The truth is, this photo is actually about gesture, the way the hummingbird opens its bill and makes noise in order to make its presence known to friends and foes. At the end I felt the story telling gesture comes better to life in the photo as shown above. As always, its a process, not a tenet.