Lilac Hummingbird

Artist: Renee Dawson
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Card: US$4.83
Print: from US$20.66

Lilac Hummingbird

Featured in The Birds – Feb. 15, 2009
I can almost feel it. Spring is JUST around the corner. It’s such an exciting time in Canada after a long and cold winter. The lilac trees bloom putting forth the sweetest scent and the hummingbirds return to our property after a long migration. Yes, Spring will be here before we know it. I can’t wait!

I spent countless HOURS last summer, sitting in a lawn chair, ever so patiently waiting to try & capture one of these little darlings in flight. They are only 7-9 cm long. While hovering their wings beat 55x/s, 61x/s when moving backwards, and at least 75x/s when moving forward!

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Processing info:
This image started out with 3 photograph layers (the lilac background image, a female ruby-throated hummingbird, and the tail from a different photo of the same bird). I took all of the original images with my Canon DSLR.

After removing the background around the original bird photos I merged all of the layers in PhotoShop.

I digitally painted/blended the entire image in Corel Painter X using the Impasto Depth Smear brush at 30% opacity. I cloned out a distracting branch in the upper left corner and performed blend # 2 work on the main lilac blooms, hummingbird, and the largest leaves using grainy blender 10 brush at 38% opacity.
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Lilac Hummingbird belongs to the following groups:

Birds and Creatures of Flight, Digital Art Compilations (No Nudity Allowed), Fantasy Fine Art Composites, I Love Birds, Live, Love, Dream: , Mixed Media, PixElations - The Art of Photoshop and The Birds Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters

Renee Dawson
Rick & Deb Larson

BEAUTIFUL shot, Renee!! Way to go!! Take Care _Deb :)
Lois Bryan

Renee-Rooster you COMPLETELY blow me away!!!! This is such a beautiful, beautiful image!!! Sweetie .. you have found your niche!!! You are on your game!!! I’m am soooooo delighted to see the magic you are creating!!!! WOWOOWOWOOW!!!!
Rebecca Bryson

Stunning!!! fantastic capture!
David Clark

terrific Renee ~~- you are doing such great processing work with these images -~~ beautiful all around ~~- the lilac(color) and deep green are so good together -~~ cheers and happy Valentines – dave
BarbaraManis

Renee, this is stunning, really awesome work!
DJ LeMay

Everything you do is magic!! Pure magic!!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you DJ! xo
DebbieSteer

i love this and i love nature TOP shot Renee, off to look at your work now.inst fave
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Debbie.
Daniel J. McCa...

Beauty, Renee! Not an easy capture! Superb work!!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Daniel!
Sarah-fiona Helme

Renee, this is heaven! I love hummingbirds. (Wish we had them in the UK). Love the bokeh. Well done!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much. We have 2 pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds that return to our property every May. It is something I truly look forward to :)
Béla Török

Excellent capture, my friend!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Béla!
Lyn Evans

Hey there sleepy head…tucking you in gently and pulling blankets up over your shoulders to keep you warm. This is fabulous…your artwork is so amazing…just like you are. Oh I love these colours so much. This is such a wonderful compilation of images honey….beautifully edited. You are such a star…..... Creeping off quietly and closing your bedroom door and leaving morning hugs by your bedside.
Renee Dawson replied

Thanks so much sweetie. So glad you like it. I am having so much fun focusing on this new direction :)
Adrian Kent

Wow, this is impressive, top drawer shot!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Adrian!
lorilee

This is sooooo pretty!!!!! What a lovely composition – perfect!!!!!!!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Lori. You are so good to me dear :)
Meeli Sonn

So gorgeous. Thanks for sharing it with me. My heart is opening when I see such a beauty
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Meeli! I’m so glad you like it :)
Onions

TOO GOOD!
I bet you could make a considerable sum of money with this image,Renee.
All the hours spent were more than worth it.

Renee, I hope you don”t think Im being too rude or suggestive but, I think you”re bokeh is magnificent. :)
Well, it is Valentines day.

Wor Renee.
Renee Dawson replied

Good morning Mr. Onions. Thanks so much for the lovely note. I like beautiful bokeh too…lol I’ll thank my 70-200mm lens for that one :)
chijude

Exquisite. Image, colour, capture. ... just exquisite.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much!
Diane Schuster

How beautiful this little bird is, beautiful work, I love lilacs and hummers, thanks for the breath of spring!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Diane. I’m so glad you like it :)
cdudak

This is awesome, great stop action here. Where I live, we do not have to many hummers coming around….Kay
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Kay. We have 2 pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds that return to our property every May. I do so look forward to seeing them each summer :)
LudaNayvelt

perfect shot
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Luda!
Kathy Nairn

sigh so stunning! As active as a hummingbird is, I find this image serene and calming. Excellent work Renee.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Kathy :)
queensknightjbh

Well done Renee! I don’t share your anticipation of spring since I absolutely LOVE winter but I DO marvel at your work!! Howya been? A long strange trip on my end.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Jim. I’ve been well thank you. A long, strange trip eh….were you able to obtain some interesting photos?
L Wagner

How amazing you could blend all the photos together and get such a beautiful result! This is now added to my favorites…...GORGEOUS!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much for the lovely comment :)
IngridSonja

A truly stunning shot! Well done!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much!
Heloisa Castro

excellent capture
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much for all your lovely comments today Heloisa.
Louise Robinson

Amazing shot!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Louise!
Lynda McDonald

look at the eye on that hummingbird ! whoo hooo !,,,,,,,,,lovely artwork combination too, blending huh….....oh boy so much to learn
Renee Dawson replied

Thanks Mom. I hope you’re feeling better! xo
Roddy Atkinson

Fabulous shot!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Roddy!
DApixara

Beautiful Composition
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much :)
melant1017

AWESOME CAPTURE!!!

~A
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you Antonio!
Michael Beers

You did it on this on this is a fantastic shot.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Michael :)
DiEtte Henderson

What a fantastic capture! Perfect!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much DiEtte!
Von McKnelly

Well now I know the meaning of perfection…...
Renee Dawson replied

You are too good to me. Many thanks Von :)
Lynda McDonald

another image on RB most popular ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but of course it should be !
Renee Dawson replied

Thanks Mom! I need to figure out what bird species to do next. So many birdies…so little time…lol xo
OldBirch

Excellent shot! Fantastic.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much!
Noelene Davies

Wow this is just gorgeous Renee and I just love the colours. An instant favourite.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you so very much for all your kind comments on my bird images Noelene! :)
Holly Cawfield

Oh Renee…this is SO beautiful. Obviously the hummingbird is spectacular but that you’ve also got the lilacs so beautifully focused just makes this a perfect photograph. The background is just gorgeous.

How in the world did you manage to get that hummingbird to land on a flower that complements his own colouring so well??? You put direction signs out for him, didn’t you!! :-D
Renee Dawson replied

Oh no…oh no…I didn’t capture this image ‘as seen’ sweetie. Wish I could say I did! The processing info. is on the right hand side in the write up. The lilacs were my background image and I PUT the hummingbird there (from another photo I took). Now if I really DID capture it this way…….how COOL would that be! Another thing to strive for this summer when these little gems return. I have it marked on my calendar. They should be back mid-May :)
Elenne Boothe

Ever so beautiful!! wonderful capture. : )
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Elenne :)
Caroline Evans...

well done
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you Caroline!
Tom Newman

A most beautiful shot Renee, superb combination of colours :-)
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much Tom :)
WayoftheWarrior

Skills,,,mad skills
Donna Chapman

great capture!
Jonicool

Exquisite image!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much! :)
Gavin Maginness

What a beauty!!! gorgeous capture and detail!
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much for your kind comments today Gavin! Have a wonderful weekend :)
Lynn Bauer

This is truly beautiful, Renee! I know exactly what you mean when you say you have spent hours waiting for one of these shots! I’ve done it many times, and it’s just so exciting when it pays off!!! Well…this one paid off BIG TIME!!!!!
Renee Dawson

Thank you very much Lynn! :)
David Friederich

Fabulous processing on this one using Painter X. I love what you have done here…so perfect that you “fooled” those who didn’t read your processing info. This is beautiful, Renee.
Renee Dawson replied

Thank you very much David!
WendyJC

absolutely gorgeous :)
All That Is Nature
Nanagahma

Wow, what a great capture. Love the DoF and you were able to get this little hummingbird so in-focus, yet a great blur to the fastly moving wings. Wonderful job, instant fave!
dmarie

beautiful…I so love hummingbirds!!! I had a humming bird land on my shoulder once and that made my day…that is something that does not happen often!!! :-)