White-bellied mountain gem female

[Greg Basco]

Hi, I've been enjoying the hummingbird pictures recently here on the forum and thought I would post one of my own. Since some people may not know, the low light in tropical rain forests and cloud forests means that relying on natural light for hummingbirds is difficult. That's why many photographers use multiple flashes in what amounts to a studio setup outside. And, as in a studio, all of the light comes from flash, which creates two issues.

First, unless we have an artificial background to light up, our backgrounds would be black. So we use prints of images taken of out of focus vegetation. The background here is an out of focus image of cloud forest vegetation near my house. I had it printed at 18x24".

Second, having all of the light come from flash means that we have to be careful about how we position these lights and how many lights we use. I find that less is more in terms of the number of flashes; a setup with four flashes (three on the bird and one on the background) gives nice coverage and, when positioned well, allows for some shadow and texture on the bird and flowers for (hopefully!) a natural yet still interesting look.

I used this technique for the image below, which is a female white-bellied mountain gem visiting a native epiphyte flower in the Ericaceae family (blueberry and cranberry family). It was tricky to light with the white flowers but I was happy with the result. I took this while working with Doug Brown a couple of weeks ago here in Costa Rica.



Tech: Canon 1D Mark IV (we used Doug's new camera at the setup, thanks Doug!), Canon 70-200 f4 IS lens, 1.4x TC, tripod, cable release, f16, ISO 250, 1/200 (since no ambient light enters the picture, the actual duration of the exposure is the duration of the flashes, faster than 1/10,000th of a second)

Post-processing: Full-frame, cloned out one catchlight from the eye, ran a bit of noise reduction on the background

I appreciate any comments!

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image of this hummer framed in flowers. This female looks the same as a Purple-throated mountain gem female.

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Jim. I'm glad you liked this one. I too was happy with the framing. You are right that it looks identical to the female purple-throated mountain gem. The only reason I think it's the white-bellied is because the place I shot it has white-bellied males but no purple-throated males.

Btw, I enjoyed your natural light hummers from a few months ago; it's not impossible;)

Cheers,
Greg

[Ignacio Yufera]

Apart from the obvious technical beauty of the shot and the nice comp, I love how the bill seems to fit exactly into the flower's hole. Also, how the BG and the flowers make up for the (relative) lack of color of the female.

[Stu Bowie]

I like the wing position in mid hover, and I like the colours and sharp detail. Although framed between the two branches, I would maybe have not included the lower branch. It seems like its cramping the HB.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Greg
I think this is one of your best images

Perfect lighting, detail, wing position and the Bkgd looks "more natural" compared to the one in Judy and Susan's posts yesterday. I think the 2nd branch adds to the overall picture and would keep it in.

The only drawback with using 3 flashes on the HB's is that it limits the approach/position where you'll have optimal/balanced lighting. With more flashes you can expand the target zone and achieve the same effect as long as you carefully position your flashes. But when the HB co-operates and is in the ideal position - - it works very effectively as it did here

I'm curious:
-is the Bkgd an actual photo you took or a creation in PS
-what AF settings did you use on the Mk4

Do you know the exact explanation for the missing portion of HB's wing. When i've asked, i've been told it reflects an injury during some territorial dispute with another HB

Thanks for sharing

[arash_hazeghi]

Very beautiful setup, love the BG, wing position and flowers.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Greg. Really enjoyed the day we spent photographing hummers, and the entire workshop for that matter! This one looks good to me. The bird has good eye contact and wing position, and nicely fills the space between the two perches. The lighting looks very natural. I might tone down the topmost flower on the right.

Regarding the optimum number of flashes, I don't think there is a right answer. It all boils down to personal preference. I prefer no more than 3 on the bird, as I know you do; it gives the bird more texture and has a more natural look IMO. I don't think that the target zone is appreciably reduced by using a lower number of flashes. This shot was composed in camera; we knew the size of bird we wanted and the direction we wanted it to fly in from. We framed the shot and locked down the tripod.

More flashes might help when you are photographing hummers coming in to feeders rather than flowers, but for flowers 3 is plenty.

I'm looking forward to including this wonderful location in next year's workshop!

[Keith Bauer]

Greg:

I really like this image. The lighting is very nice. I agree with your assessment on the number of flashes. Working with you last year and again this year and reviewing images from each trip, I prefer the images from this year using 3 flashes on the bird, rather than the 4 from last year. It provides a more balanced feel, IMHO. This setting looks great to me with the balance of flowers top and bottom. The soft muted colors of the flowers lend to the mood of the image. Great exposure on the bird. If anything would change, I'd like just a bit more room on the left. I say that thinking about a print of the image. I think a mat would cause the wing to end up uncomfortably close to the edge. Only a worry if you were to print. Presented on the web, I think it looks really nice. Your high speed hummingbird setups are as good as any I've seen anywhere from anyone. I don't say that just because I've had the chance to work with you, I've sat, studied and compared.

[James Salywoda]

Very nicely captured Greg I like the framing of the Hummer a real pretty shot.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Really loved the setting here, nice BG, pose and Details...

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Looks almost like a Japanese painting Greg. Very lovely capture.:)

[Greg Basco]

Hi, and thanks to everyone for your comments. Peter, Doug beat me to the reply as I was out in the capital city here running errands the past couple of days. Though I do see your point about coverage, Doug has expressed my thoughts exactly. For the way I approach these images I have found the three flash setup to work best for this general type of shot with fairly even lighting and for more dramatic lighting for certain images. I always set up with a particular composition in mind, so I know where I want the bird to approach and place the lighting accordingly. If the bird doesn't go to the exact flower I want, it's not my shot so I don't press the button.

The background, by the way, is a straight shot of cloud forest vegetation near my house. And I use manual focus for this kind of image, pre-focusing on the flower that I want the bird to visit.

Keith, thanks very much for the kind words on the setups. I know that you have high standards so I really appreciate this! Oh, and Keith, you're right about matting for this one given the tight composition. This one will be slated for book printing and for an exhibit where the prints will be mounted straight to gatorboard with no matting or perhaps a canvas gallery wrap where the wrap is a digital extension (see the new Genuine Fractals) of the image edges (thankfully!).

Judy, that actually is the look I was going for on this one with the delicate white flowers; so glad you noticed!

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

The more I see this one the more I understand it!
Yes, you are right about me having the right to be wrong! but no more! now I see beyond in this picture.

Love the soft colors and lighting of this one Greg. Would love to see it printed.:)

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Juan Carlos. Well, like we talked about yesterday, I did like your idea about having the bottom branch actually up above the flower the bird is visiting. That will be something for next time. But, I'm glad you like it this way too.

Saludos!
Greg