I feel you did a good job of capturing the hummer as even with the large crop the bird is relatively sharp.
For me the image is about composition. As long as you are going to make the large crop just go ahead and crop for composition. As I look at the image there is a huge amount of red. Red draws the eye like a magnet draws iron. So the red dominates your image. Instead, consider my revised crop below. By reducing the top area focus is increased on the bird. By cropping the bottom I've used the red to frame the hummer. Since the eye is drawn to the red and the red surrounds the bird the bird is not much more dominate in the scene.   Posted: 03/02/2025 08:11:41

Bud - frankly I am amazed how sharp your subject is especially with the frozen wings - NICE! I didn't think you could stop hummingbird wings at 1/2000th second. In my VF I cropped in, eliminated some distracting branches, reduced both the saturation and vibrance of the red flower all of which intended to get the viewer focusing on the subject   Posted: 03/06/2025 09:49:36

Bud,
Nice wing position captured, with both fully extended, and the bird is placed well relative to the flowers too. I like your processing in terms of what you did to darken the background and warm up the colors. The red is vibrant, which is part of the story with hummers that tend to be attracted to red!
I agree with the others that this could benefit from a crop for composition, so I had to play with my vision for it. Yes the red draws the eye, but I like the repeating reds and opposing shapes of the bloom spikes so tried to emphasize that.   Posted: 03/16/2025 18:09:08

Well, here's the newbie take on this. I like Bud's version because the depth provided by the bokeh background suggests that the (relatively same-colored) bird is emerging from it. The red flower is detailed, brighter than the background and bird, and sharp -- sharper than the hummingbird, which again gives me the impression that it's flying out of the nebulous forest and right into the nice, sharp photo. The flower is maybe a hair more important than the hummer, but allows me to regard both as integral to the story.

That said, the crops (for me) tweak not only the photo but the story it tells. In Larry's version I see the hummingbird dropping down to the flower rather than emerging from the background - a different perspective that retains the flower-and-bird as equal participants. Butch's version makes it all about the hummingbird, and the flower (to me) becomes less important. Cindy's crop is much like Bud's version, but the smaller size emphasizes (to me) the subject and improves the light by removing some of the dark surround.

There you have it, a synopsis of some beautiful versions by someone who knows nothing about photos :-) I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. :-)   Posted: 03/20/2025 22:31:44

Sorry to be late this month but I've been traveling. I agree that there's a little too much clutter on the right side, and I like Larry's crop. You caught the wings perfect IMO. To me, the red adds interest - you would expect a hummingbird to be attracted to the brightly colored flowers. Good shot!!   Posted: 03/26/2025 00:41:34