Ruby-throated Hummingbird, male

[Allen Sparks]

Over the winter I bought the hummingbird guide from the BAA store here. Now that the hummingbirds have arrived again in Tennessee, I am trying a five flash set up. Here is one of my first attempts. Bird attracted by flower dipped in sugar water. I took out some of the flash highlights on the eye and removed some highlights on the flower. I used 1/8 power on the flashes to produce a slight amount of blur in the wings. Any comments appreciated.

Canon 7D2, Canon 400mm f4 DO IS II, 1.4x TC III, tripod, 5 speedlites @ 1/8 power
ISO 200, f20, 1/250s

[Arthur Morris]

Very nicely done. I especially like the gorget. And the wing position is great, How much patience did you need?

Thanks for the plug. Folks can check out Linda Robbin's great guide here (http://birdsasart-shop.com/hummingbird-guide-cd/).

with love, artie

[dankearl]

Nice, Allen.
The flower and BG look great, I think you could brighten up the Hummer a bit.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That is a beauty alright! Good pose, BG, flower. Maybe a bit dark, but not by too much. Did you have many dust bunnies to remove at f/20?

[Dorian Anderson]

Yeah, the really slight amount of blur is perfect. If the wings are perfect it looks too artificial. Pose and head angle are perfect. I agree that you could brighten the whole frame a bit to make it pop a bit more. You look to have plenty of headroom to ad more light.

[annmpacheco]

Thats quite a learning curve and you are producing quality captures, well done. Yes increase exposure, would also like to see the fanned tail w details. Keep em coming.

[John Mack]

Pretty nice frame here. Like the flower,pose and background.

[Allen Sparks]

Thank you for the comments everyone! I’ll see about brightening it up some.
Artie, this male would visit every twenty minutes or so but it took quite a while to get a favorable wing position.
Daniel, fortunately my sensor is pretty clean - only a couple of dust spots to remove.

[Allen Sparks]

Here's a repost of a brighter image...