Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by HilyRoxy:
this is a cool picture, my sister would love it, because its like you caught real elves dancing.

Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by sheyingshi88:
Fun picture.

Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by Gene L.:
Interesting shadows that strongly tie-in with the challenge. It would be better me thinks, if there were more definition in the shadows.

Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by FranziskaLang:
I'm not sure I would've recognized this w/out the title. A more even/smooth background might have helped, too.

Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by chariot:
Wicked cool.

Dancing Elves
by Swashbuckler

Comment by Ricky Cleave:
This is cool, what kind of surface did you do this on?

Nesting Hummingbird
by Swashbuckler

Comment by Swashbuckler:
Thank you all for your comments. It was better in color, but this was by far the best photo I took all week.
Patella, the nest is made of lichen, tree moss and spider webs, pretty much the same color as the fir needles, so in color, this shot is still difficult to pick out from the surroundings. As I really didn't want to disturb her too much (see the comment from heritcon in England), I couldn't play around with the shot too much. I had wind blowing the branch around, the camera held as far up and out as humanly possible and a nervous looking mother to contend with. Basically, shoot and run away.
Patrick, not to be mean, but this is soooo much more of a rare find. Flying hummingbirds are "a dime a dozen". I have dozens myself. I am still working on the "perfect" shot, but just how many nesting hummingbirds have you seen in the wild? My second favorite shot of all time is of this same female, resting near our feeder. One of the few times I have seen a hummingbird not in flight. I had often wondered if they ever rested. Certainly not when they are eating.
Unfortunately, my camera doesn't "do" black and white". It wasn't a feature I cared about. Sorry, B&W fans.
And not to be a total whiner, but really 3 ones?

Nesting Hummingbird
by Swashbuckler

Comment by RampbII:
I love the puzzle nest. Have u tried to put it together yet?

Nesting Hummingbird
by Swashbuckler

Comment by doglvr:
A little busy, I'd focus more onthe bird in the nest rather than the surroundings.

Nesting Hummingbird
by Swashbuckler

Comment by Patella:
I can't think of the way I want to word this. The hummingbird and nest are very clearly visible in the picture, and yet they seem to get lost among all those pine needles. While I've tried very hard not to make comments like this, I wonder if the color of the hummingbird and nest would be enough of a difference from the needles to help set them apart.