Superman

**Doug Brown** · 09-03-2009, 09:59 AM

Look...up in the sky...it's a bird!

Canon 50D, 400mm, f/16, 1/200, ISO 250, manual exposure, 5 flashes, hand held

Axel Hildebrandt · 09-03-2009, 10:10 AM

Very cool pose, sharpness and exposure control. I particularly like that the pose makes him look as if he is swimming or gliding.

joel quenneville · 09-03-2009, 10:35 AM

I love that dynamic pose Doug! The bird is sharp and well lit with great eye contact and wing placement. The eye follows an S shaped curve starting from the tail and going through the body to the tip of the beak before looping back to the eye via the wings. This bird looks determined!:)

**Manos Papadomanolakis** · 09-03-2009, 11:06 AM

killer pose,dark bg and beautiful wing position!!!

**Ian Mason** · 09-03-2009, 11:38 AM

That's amazing! Incredible sharpness and DOF and the background is very complementary.

Graham Smith. · 09-03-2009, 11:43 AM

This is a phenomenal hummer shot!
Incredible detail, and very cool pose.
The lighting doesn't look very natural to me, but perhaps that isn't possible with the multi flash setup. I have no experience with that so I really don't know.

**denise ippolito** · 09-03-2009, 11:59 AM

Doug, Fantastic image! I like the great details and the killer pose!! Also your BG looks very nice!

**Chris Kotze** · 09-03-2009, 12:52 PM

What a shot !! Excellent detail, sharpness and colours. Super photograph

**LouBuonomo** · 09-03-2009, 01:24 PM

Normally I am not one for a hummer without a flower and I like a little flutter in the the wings but this ROCKS !!

DOF and details are killer. Nice multi-flash work

Lou

**Adrian David** · 09-03-2009, 01:59 PM

Fantastic shot!!! Excellent sharpness and details.Super pose for "Superman"...

**Mike Tracy** · 09-03-2009, 04:49 PM

I find this image captivating and appreciate the technical challenge using the multi flash setup. The DOF is spot on as well.

The singular catchlight looks too perfect though. Was this added after the fact, left as is after removing others or as captured ?

Can you detail how the flashes are arrayed ?

**Aidan Briggs** · 09-03-2009, 08:34 PM

Love the pose, and exposure. Tack sharp. I wish the background were a tad lighter though. Wish we had Black-Chinned around here.

**Kiran Poonacha** · 09-04-2009, 01:16 AM

Great perspective.. loved the pose and details... too good work.. congrats.. keep them coming...

**Sabyasachi Patra** · 09-04-2009, 02:33 AM

Doug,
I love the pose and the sharpness. Fantastic. I can only see one catch light in the eye though 5 flashes were used. How did you achieve it?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

**arash_hazeghi** · 09-04-2009, 02:38 AM

Great title for a great image, it does look like superman :D It's only missing red and blue.

**Danny Laredo** · 09-04-2009, 05:21 AM

Doug, this is just wonderful.
Excellent timing and the flight pose is super.

**Doug Brown** · 09-04-2009, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by Mike Tracy

The singular catchlight looks too perfect though. Was this added after the fact, left as is after removing others or as captured ?

Can you detail how the flashes are arrayed ?

It is a nice looking catchlight Mike. But I did no PS work to the eye other than sharpening. There is only one catchlight in the RAW file. It's all about how the flashes are positioned. In this case: one flash on the BG and four flashes arranged in a square around the feeder. If you move the square towards the BG so that the feeder is close to the front of the square instead of in the middle, you can achieve a single catchlight right out of the camera.

**Mike Tracy** · 09-04-2009, 08:14 AM

Doug, Thanks for the reply. Big kudos on this image.

**David Fletcher** · 09-04-2009, 10:35 AM

Just tooooo good Doug. Lovely. Tack sharp with great HA

Peter Wallack · 09-04-2009, 10:41 AM

Hi Doug

We are neighbors; I am up in Santa Fe. Really compelling "look up in the sky; it's a bird." Here is where the caption helps those who might not see the smile on the birds face.

Peter

**Stu Bowie** · 09-04-2009, 11:09 AM

Very impressive Doug. Good choice of aperture to cover the full DOF. Brilliant detail and sharpness, and I like the forward wing positions. Congrats on an outstanding image.

**James Salywoda** · 09-05-2009, 02:03 AM

Sweet Pose! This is one heck of a hummingbird shot... Very Unique:)

Dave Barnes · 09-05-2009, 03:21 AM

I dont think there is much that I can add other than fantastic shot. The IQ awes me.

Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi · 09-05-2009, 11:59 AM

The pose is too good and soo is the sharpness.

**Norm Dulak** · 09-06-2009, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Doug Brown

It is a nice looking catchlight Mike. But I did no PS work to the eye other than sharpening. There is only one catchlight in the RAW file. It's all about how the flashes are positioned. In this case: one flash on the BG and four flashes arranged in a square around the feeder. If you move the square towards the BG so that the feeder is close to the front of the square instead of in the middle, you can achieve a single catchlight right out of the camera.

Doug:

Your flash placement to produce only a single catchlight was highly intelligent, and very different from the work of many others I've seen doing multi-flash hummer photography. Without PS cloning, the eyes of most hummers captured with multi-flash systems by many others would look like Times Square in NY at night. Terrific work!

But one thing I'd like to know is what your "effective" shutter speed was to freeze the bird's wing motion. Obviously your flash system completely controlled over the camera's shutter speed, and the 1/200 sec shutter speed you have described was therefore not especially relevant.

At your multi-flash settings, what was the effective shutter speed that froze the wings of that beautiful bird? Maybe with this type of photography, that is the relevant factor that should always be stated up front.

Norm Dulak

**Sabyasachi Patra** · 09-06-2009, 10:27 AM

I agree with Norman. This is impressive especially since the flashes has been positioned to achieve a single catch light. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

**Doug Brown** · 09-06-2009, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Norm Dulak

At your multi-flash settings, what was the effective shutter speed that froze the wings of that beautiful bird? Maybe with this type of photography, that is the relevant factor that should always be stated up front.

Unfortunately, Canon does not include manual power flash duration specifications in its manuals. From doing an internet search, I located a site where someone did some testing on a 580EX to measure flash duration. If you believe the methodology of the test, at 1/16 power, the 580EX has a flash duration of approximately 1/15,000 second.

I think people don't post effective shutter speeds because they are not entirely sure what they are.

**Lorant Voros** · 09-07-2009, 01:38 AM

This one is a masterpiece. Nothing to add to what has been said. It is stunning.

**Norm Dulak** · 09-07-2009, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Doug Brown

Unfortunately, Canon does not include manual power flash duration specifications in its manuals. From doing an internet search, I located a site where someone did some testing on a 580EX to measure flash duration. If you believe the methodology of the test, at 1/16 power, the 580EX has a flash duration of approximately 1/15,000 second.

I think people don't post effective shutter speeds because they are not entirely sure what they are.

Understood.

One final point on your setup yielding a single catchlight, which I hadn't considered but my wife pointed out. Only your type of setup would yield an image suitable for entry in the more rigorous photography contests, which require that nothing be added or removed from the image.

Congratulations again for your clever setup and for this stunning image.

Norm Dulak

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