Hey, Being a recent NASA retiree I got bored during last winter's cold and snow here in Hazel Green. After reading several threads on various forums on the subject, I started to assemble and checkout in the living room a 7-Flash setup with background. Yesterday I assembled it outdoors and give it a checkout with live subjects. Attached is the second bird photographed with the setup and I was quite happy with the results. It was taken with a Nikon D3X on manual exposure at I believe f11. The flashes were set at 1/32 power. Please critque the photo and give areas that need improvement.http://rkstephensphotography.smugmug...239-Edit-L.jpg
Last edited by Daniel Cadieux; 07-19-2011 at 08:49 PM.
Reason: Merged two posts
I have zero humming bird experience so take the following with a grain of salt: The head and eye are crisp, nice job. I might remove two of the three catch lights in the eye in order to clean it up a little. Increased DOF might also work to get the tail feathers into focus, but certainly not a requirement in my mind. The only other comment would be a potential change to the BG colour, but this comes down to personal choice.
Bottom line -- great 'second' attempt. I would be more than happy if it were mine!
Good critique by Craig. I like the pose, exposure, sharpness. I agree with eliminating two of the catchlights (leaving the center one intact). I also agree with experimenting with changing the BG colouras this looks like an indoor studio backdrop. I would also fiddle with the composition as the little hummingbird is very centered in the frame - no room for it to "look" into. Overall well done...with the techs down pat you just need a bit more fine-tuning on the final presentation...lots of potential and you are off to a great strat!
P.S. I see this is your first started thread...so I wish you a belated warm welcome to BPN!!
Welcome Randy! Hummingbird photography can be addictive, and it looks like you're well on your way. You've captured the subject nicely. I'd definitely work on your BG, as the one you're using here has an artificial look to it. I agree with Daniel's comment regarding the image composition.
I think that 7 flashes is probably overkill for most multiple-flash hummingbird photography; I normally use a total of 4 flashes. Too many flashes tends to produce overly even lighting and the result is that your subjects often lack a sense of depth. I like that sense of depth in my hummer images.
Thanks for the comments. I will make some adjustments and keep trying. The migration starts here in North Alabama about mid August so I will have time to work on the technique a some more. Last yeat we estimated over 35 hummers were at the feeder at most anytime during peak migration. I was filling 14 feeders every 1 1/2 days.