SteemitPhotoChallenge #42, Animal Portrait II. (Entry 2: Stoic Hummingbird)

A "portrait" by definition should betray a bit of the subject's personality. Meaning, you are not only gazing upon the likeness of a person but you are afforded a view into the sitter's inner self. With humans this is achieved with props, clothing, pose, venue, facial expression, personal grooming decisions etc. Animals don't have a lot of the above attributes so in a picture, we are left to "construct" the animal's personality from their natural surroundings and natural physical traits. Because the bird's long beak is angled upward I am visually anthropomorphizing this "pose" and framing it as "stoic." The eerie sky, and simple black-on-blue colors add to this "construct" making it more believable that this little creature may yet have an actual stoic streak in him:) And that's why this photo feels like a portrait in the true sense of the term.

I snapped this picture on an overcast day around dusk. 30% of the time you gaze up at this branch, which is part of a tree right outside my patio, you will see the silhouette of this little guy perched on it. He likes this spot because it affords him a clear view of all of my hummingbird feeders. If I look up and he’s perched up there, I know to expect him to swoop down and take a sip within the next 2-3 minutes. He is quite predictable.

This particular photo also tickles me because it demonstrates how well camouflaged these birds are among tree branches. The curvature of his belly and beak mimic that of the branches which arch upward. If I’m a predator, I don’t know if I’m looking at a tiny leaf adorning the tip of a branch or a tiny bird.

My weapon of choice was a Canon PowerShot SX410 IS. The only processing this picture has been subject to is “Auto Contrast” in Photoshop.