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
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.
with love, artie
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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.
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.
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.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, male
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