Show Off!

[Doug Brown]

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/photos/614266021_7MGP2-O.jpg

Canon 50D, 400mm, f/20, 1/200, ISO 200, manual exposure, 5 flashes, hand held

[Doug Brown]

Missed the second catchlight; I'll remove it later.

[Dave Barnes]

Doug who, the bird or you, because both are entitled to.
Another one out of the top drawer.
Colour, detail, pose, BG, light all great.

[Harshad Barve]

Another rocking shot Doug
absolute stunner
TFS

[Chris van Rooyen]

Super cool! Posture is absolutely perfect, so is the sharpness and exposure:-)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, BG, sharpness and eye contact and agree on removing one of the catchlights.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

one of your best.....great pose,details,bg!!!

[christopher galeski]

Its a minter Doug,good BG,very nice fanned tail,sharp.cheers.

[DeanNewman]

Question from a new guy. Are the shadows cast by the feet a negative? Obviously, in the grand scheme, we're reaching pretty far to find something wrong with such a great image but how would big photo contests view those shadows?

Incidentally, Doug, I'd be proud to have an image like that in my portfolio, catchlights and shadows included.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Total killer shot this Doug... congrats...

[Bob Malbon]

Doug, All of the above and more!! ?: why f20? Bob<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Charlie VanTassel]

Hi Doug,
I really like the detail here, especially on the tail. You've got me saving up for some flashes now.

[Doug Brown]

why f20?<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

No surprise here Bob; it's to get maximum DOF. At f/8 and 400mm my 50D has DOF of only 0.72". At f/20 DOF more than doubles to 1.92". I think Linda Robbins uses up to f/32, but she uses more flashes than I do; you need more light to pull off f/32 at low ISOs.

[Morkel Erasmus]

absolutely flabbergastingly magnificent - the pose, the light, the BG, the sharpness. WOW

[Mital Patel]

awesome shot doug. no words to say or express ... you nailed it man.

[Subharghya]

This is Too Cool :) ... I am having a Big Smile on my face while watching this one :)

[Ramon M. Casares]

Pfff... wow... such a powerfull pose, such amazing light, such stunning detail, comp, DOF, BG, colors and ... all! Simply superb! Congratulations!

[Richard Lovison]

Wow, what's not to love in this one? Fantastic image Doug. The quality of the light due to your flash setup and the outstanding pose that was captured makes it for me.

[Joe Senzatimore]

One sweet image. Everything comes together.

[LouBuonomo]

Geez, you nailed that, 5 flashes really well done. Fantail makes it for me.
Lou

[Lorant Voros]

I just love it. The pose, BG, detail, techs. All to die for. Big congratulations.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent shot Dough, like the rest of the series, congrats!

[Norm Dulak]

No surprise here Bob; it's to get maximum DOF. At f/8 and 400mm my 50D has DOF of only 0.72". At f/20 DOF more than doubles to 1.92". I think Linda Robbins uses up to f/32, but she uses more flashes than I do; you need more light to pull off f/32 at low ISOs.

Doug:

What you have said is intriguing. How many flashes did you use, and how were they positioned to capture that beautiful image?

Norm Dulak

[Keith Bauer]

Another killer pose. I like this a lot. Great detail. I also like the graduated tone in the background. Nice work with the background flash.

[Krijn Trimbos]

The wing position is absolutely killer as is the fanned tail. Love the eye contact and HA. The BG is great as well. It could be just me but is the tail sharper than the head, cause on my work monitor (which isn't the best) the head could use a bit more USM. Otherwise perfect!

[Danny Laredo]

Brilliant capture Doug. Indeed a fantastic flight shot, the wing pose and faned out tail is really nice.
Maybe a touch more room to the right.

[Doug Brown]

Are the shadows cast by the feet a negative?

I guess it's a matter of opinion Dean. I don't find those particular shadows to be distracting. Wing shadows across the face would be a different matter entirely.

[Doug Brown]

How many flashes did you use, and how were they positioned to capture that beautiful image?

I used a 5 flash setup Norm. Four flashes were located around the bird and one on a BG located about 6 feet behind the feeder. I used manual flash exposure set to 1/16 power. The flashes were placed around the feeder in the shape of a square. The closest flash to me on my right was directed at the spot where I wanted to photograph the bird hovering and placed at the same height as the bird. The other 3 flashes were directed at that same spot but were about a foot higher and pointed down at the subject. Hope that isn't too confusing.

[John Chardine]

No hint of IQ loss due to diffraction at f20 on the 50D Doug! I love the image and have come back to it. The leg shadows and the two catchlights do give the "flash game" away so the question then becomes- do you want to hide the effects of the flash or not?

I would also give a bit more room at the top and less at the bottom. Here's a try at softening the flash effect and a re-comp.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for the rework John!

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Much has been covered, so I'll just say, an amazing capture.

[James Fuller]

One of your best hummers and I prefer the original crop. A joy to view. Thanks