Hummingbird in motion
I am working on catching the hummingbirds at this fountain. This looks a bit dark I'm afraid. It is my goal to get a great shot by the end of the summer.
Thanks for looking - any suggestions are welcome. some cropping.
Canon 7D 100-400
400mm
AP 7.2
1/5000
1600 ISO
Nancy,
I think I saw something similar on FM, is that you?
I'm extremely impressed with your IQ at that ISO with the 7D, no noise in the background.
I'm sure you will want to get the color of the chin and head which will involve changing your position I suspect. I had a heck of time with Ruby throated back east, some times I think the flash I was using to stop motion hurt because I kept getting black chins, not ruby.
I love what you are doing and really don't think you need to use flash to stop motion any more, I think you would lose something.
I suspect what it is happening though is why those of us who use flash have to use a "background" which is usually a matted out of focus picture approx 12 to 18 inches behind the bird.
At 1/5000 you are shutting out alot of light. If you want to stop the wings dead you are going to have to go faster I suspect, but I'm not sure it's worth it because what you are doing here is unique, and very aesthetic.
Stan
site for photographing hummers
Here is a great site with lot's of detail on how to stop the little guys. You can get them in some very strange positions at times.
http://www.rpphoto.com/howto/hummer/humguide1.asp
I don't like the background on this one but it shows the general idea with the wings still as stone. If you notice I also needed a flash on the rear panel to get rid of his shadow. So it can be a real learning experience.
Hi Nancy, nice to see you here! You are right about a bit dark, but that is the tradeoff you have to make to keep from overexposing the white feathers. You did a great job of keeping those whites in check! I'm afraid that flash is the ultimate answer for these little birds, as you can see even at 1/5000 sec the wings are still blurred. High-end flash units can put more light on the bird and also freeze the action at up to 1/35000 sec!
Of course it would be better to have the bird at a better angle, so it is not going away from you. Nice sharpness on the head and eye. I like the water drops a lot! You should have plenty of opportunities to capture these Anna's, they stay around for most of the year.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
I think you've made a great start Nancy. Your exposure and sharpness are good and the water droplets add interest (maybe too much interest as they are a bit distracting). Agree with Kerry, if you could only turn your bird clockwise so it is angled towards you a little, rather than away, you would have a winner.
The standard way of stopping action of hummer wings is to light the subject by flash and use flashes set to manual with the output cut way down to 1/64 of full power. Flashes cut their output by shortening the burst of light so at 1/64 power you could have a flash of light that lasts only 1/30,000s! Because you are cutting the flash light output you need more than one flash to produce enough light- people use 4-5 or more flashes set to light the subject at different angles. You can see this can become an expensive proposition with good flashes costing $500 a pop. Personally I like to see some blur in the wings of a hummer because it mimics what you see with the naked eye and gives the impression of movement.
Originally Posted by Stan Cunningham
Stan, thank you so much for the great hints and kind words. Yes, that is me on FM. My goal is to get a very sharp head and body with minimal wing blur. I like a bit of wing blur. I also want to get the beautiful colors, which is one of the greatest challenges. If I get the sunlight so the gorget is bright and colorful, it often gets blown out. I do have two flashes which I plan to experiment more with, but I do am not comfortable with using them. I took a workshop where we used a five flash set up, which was wonderful, but with two flashes, I'm going to also need ambient light. I am also trying to experiment with better places for the fountain to change the backgrounds. Eventually, I may try the blurred pic for a background too.
I am looking forward to seeing your Ruby Throat. We don't have them here. Thank you so much for the encouragement and taking the time to help me. I appreciate it.
Nancy
Thank you for this site. I will check it out and try some of the suggestions.
Nancy
Thanks so much Kerry. Congrats on becoming a mod. here. You always have great suggestions. I have done some work with the flash and have a second flash. I need to learn how to use them together better. My goal is to get a good shot without the flash as well as using flash. I like some wing blur, but want to bring out better details on the body and better colors. Maybe if I change the position of this fountain, I can get more of the late afternoon/eve light on the hummer to bring out the colors. My 100-400 is limited with light, so a flash might be necessary except for earlier in the day shots. I'm going to check out the link Stan sent and try learning how to use my flashes better.
We don't have too much hummer activity right now, but as the weather heats up there will be more need for the hummers to come to the feeders. I'd love to catch more Costa's at the fountain. Ahhh, just to sit by the fountain all daybut then I couldn't afford my camera equipment.
I enjoyed your Pelican shot very much!
I'm using Noise Ninja,and PSE, but am thinking of moving up to CS5 and Lightroom. Do you think that would help my PP?
Thanks again for your help.
Nancy
Thank you so much John. I like both types of images with the multi flash and ambient light. I don't think I'll ever invest in the 5 flash type set up. I have two flashes right now, but I'm not very good at setting them up. Many times my pics taken with the one flash look flat or way over lit. I do have a 580 flash and need to learn how to use it more. Right now I am concentrating on using ambient light and like a little bit of wing better too. However, I am struggling with getting detail on the body and bringing out the colors more with amb. light. Hopefully, changing the position of the fountain will give me a more chances at that. That day I had the fountain shooting rather high, so I'll try to reduce the flow to reduce the bubbles.
Thanks so much for your help.
Nancy
This is a very cool looking BIF image you created, Nancy! The drops look greatr, and really add to the whole compostion. Nice work, and look forward to seeing more.
Nancy, PS CS5 with LR3 is a killer combination and what I use exclusively. I think it will open up a whole new world for you!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
Thank you so much Brendan.
Thanks Kerry. I thought I should get it before I retire from teaching. We get a great discount. I hope I'll be able to figure it out. I am so frustrated with Elements. I think my photos can be a lot better with better PP.
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