Great Tit Landing

[Austin Thomas]

Several birds have been jumping around the feeders in the back garden recently.

I set up a couple of flash guns for the foreground and exposed for the background.

Canon 1DMKIII, 580EX flash x2. 110mm, f9, 1/100, ISO 200

All I need now is a pretty tree stump bottom right hand corner. What would you suggest ?

Thanks

Austin

[Philip Lombard]

Fantastic action shot. How diyou get that close to use a 100mm, wow. I really l;ike the lighting. You could add one but it is good as is.

[edward saltau]

this is sooo cool! One of those poses that you'll see all the time but hardly ever see a photograph of because its so hard so get! I love the position of the wings and especially like the outstretched feet.
I'm keen to learn the theory behind multiple flash bird photography, does anyone know a good resource?
I think this shot would benefit from some light from below to remove some of the shadows but as is, it would still be going on my wall!

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great flight shot!!!
I Iike the action and the BG!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose and BG. I find the shadows on the chest a bit distracting. As for a perch, maybe you can find one with lichen or moss that has no fresh cuts and is not too dominant.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Austin, Interesting and good exposure. And nice BKGR. I do not like the chest shadow (did you have a flash from the right front?) and I am not a big fan of this wing position. How are you setting your flashes?

Edward, Linda Robbins is working on a Guide to High Speed Flash Hummingbird Photography; it should be avaiable through BIRDS AS ART around the end of the month.

later and love, artie

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Wonderful action you captured here Austing and a Great BG. Nits have already been covered. thanks for sharing.

[Glenn Bartley]

Such a cool pose!!

[Keith Bauer]

It isn't often you get to see a shot of small birds like this in flight and coming in for a landing. This is SUPERB! Chest shadow or not (and personally I like it), this is great. Excellent exposure, and an excellent capture.

[Austin Thomas]

Thanks all for your comments. To answer some questions raised. There was a flash bottom right, and bottom left. Maybe the bottom left flash was closer to the subject in this case and therefore had more influence in creating the shadows. I continually moved the flashes to get an even distribution but the birds were free to choose their flight arrival path and that affects the shadows of course.

How at 110mm? I have for the last year continued to bring the feeders closer to the window, The camera was clamped to the window frame and released by myself manually using a 60cm release cord.

Thanks fir your feedback, I'll work the shadows and post again another day.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info. Sorry that I did not make my quesitons clear. Are you flashes in Manual Mode and if yes, at what power?

thanks and later and love, artie

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Artie,

Yes both are in manual mode and I settled on 1/16th power for both. Would you suggest more or less power from your experiences?

Thanks and regards,

Austin.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie,

Yes both are in manual mode and I settled on 1/16th power for both. Would you suggest more or less power from your experiences?

Thanks and regards,

Austin.

Hi Austin, You are in the correct neighborhood. The goal is to be able to use the maximum synch speed of your camera and underexpose the ambient by at least two - three stops. To do that I think that you would need another flash or two, and certainly one on the BKGR unless the birds are in the shade and the BKGR in sun... At 1/100 sec. there seemed to be a tiny, tiny amount of funky ghosting esp. around the toes...

later and love, artie