Hummer Practice

[david cramer]

I've been practicing hummingbird photography in my yard. The flower was attached to a feeder, and had a little sugar water dropped into it. Four flash setup (two on bird, one on background, one on back of bird for contrast). Now, if only the male rufous or the blackchinned would come back around!

Nikon D300, 400 2.8 + 1.7tc, 1/320 flash sync at f/13, iso 200

[Arthur Morris]

Hi David, Were you trying to freeze the wing motion? I like the BKGR; what was it? I like the wing position but the flower is so large that it overpowers the little bird.

[david cramer]

Hi Art. It is a big trumpet flower. In one shot, the bird almost disappears in it. The background is a Juniper tree with a flash on it. I've not tried to freeze the wing motion. I suppose that takes a stronger flash pulse?

[Arthur Morris]

David, Thanks for the info. Try finding some smaller flowers. You actually need to set the flash weaker as low manual power settings allow you to freeze the wings because of their short durations. Linda Robbins' High Speed Flash Hummingbird Guide has (finally) gone to the designer. The CD should be available in less than a month. It turned out to be a monumental task.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi David,
Those flowers look familiar (I had a couple of those vines growing in my backyard when I lived in ABQ). Wish for a bit more backside wing to be visible. Your flash blended seemlessly with the natural light.
Steve

[Doug Brown]

Hi David! I agree that your flash really does blend seamlessly with natural light. I also agree with Artie's excellent points. I'd like to go out with you and see your setup one of these days!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, David. Everything looks good with the light to my eye, except that the backlight seems just a hint strong and perhaps a little too much from below. That's a minor point of course. Great use of the background light. I do agree about the flower overpowering this little guy in terms of this composition.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Mike Lentz]

I'll go out and be the one thats different and say the flower is fine...:eek: I hear these comments from time to time and its like "Hello, they feed on these all day long in my backyard" maybe I shouldn't take their picture because the flower isn't smaller than the subject??? Don't think so! (no offense to my asteemed bird photogs)but when I see people buying into it, it just makes me cringe.:confused: Keep taking pics on those natural flowers and I'll keep enjoying them. Oh by the way, I saw one at my Hibiscus yesterday.... I didn't take his pic yet however. ;)

[Arthur Morris]

I'll go out and be the one thats different and say the flower is fine...:eek: I hear these comments from time to time and its like "Hello, they feed on these all day long in my backyard" maybe I shouldn't take their picture because the flower isn't smaller than the subject??? Don't think so! (no offense to my asteemed bird photogs)but when I see people buying into it, it just makes me cringe.:confused: Keep taking pics on those natural flowers and I'll keep enjoying them. Oh by the way, I saw one at my Hibiscus yesterday.... I didn't take his pic yet however. ;)

A few points: 1-Just because you are photographing what is, does not mean that the resulting image will be pleasing. I love flowers but in this case the flower simply over-powers the bird. 2- Please do not forget that the "natural" flower was picked and attached to a feeder. Does anyone know if the flower is a native wildflower?

[david cramer]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. This is a trumpet vine flower, cultivated from my garden. Hummingbirds love them. I picked this one because it was the only one on this particularly vine that looked decent. I posted this image to get suggestions, which I appreciate. The hummer is not only on the small side (it's about 2/3 the size of most of the other hummers), but it is also not particularly colorful, so it's not one I would consider printing. I don't think the BG is too bright, but the backlighting flash on the bird is too strong, so still have adjustments to make before the hummers migrate away. While I'll like a little blur in the wings (for motion), I'd like to be able to also get the wings frozen for comparison.