# more on shooting hummingbirds



## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Had a chance to shoot a number of hummingbirds this weekend. Here are a couple of shots to ponder.

The first shot was in the middle of the afternoon and it was quite bright outside. In the bright light, there is too much exposure from the sun light to have a good shot at these fast birds. With the flash, there is only so much you can do to reduce the exposure since you are locked into the sync speed of the flash. I had very few decent shots this time of day. There were a few but 90% were duds. Here you can see the double shadow where there is exposure from two light sources (sun and flash)









I tried again early the next morning before the sun got so high and I had the birds in full shade. Time of day made a big difference in getting useful shots (notice how much darker the background is). Here I probably kept 90% instead of throwing 90% away. 









Another important part of he flash is to use the flash in manual mode and the lower settings being the better. At half power the flash duration is about 1/1000 of a second while at 1/16 power the flash is about 1/10,000 of a second. That flash duration is very useful for slowing motion. Getting close so less flash power can be used is also a good thing. I was about 5ft from these birds and could have done much better if I could have gotten closer and used less flash power.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Good stuff to know, Thanks !


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## MichaelW (Jun 16, 2010)

Arlon, I hope you don't mind me posting this here. I do so to point out lessons learned. I was using flash but had the flash set up in the wrong place . There was originally a shadow from the limb all across the bird. I am not very good in Photoshop but managed to get the shadow out. Also took out the feet the first time. I think that I had the flash a bit too far from the landing site. They were set up maybe 7 or 8 feet away. I did like the way the birds tail is fanned out and thats why I kept it. Also kept it as a reminder on checking the set up. Also I was using Auto FP and this is 1600 sec. if I recall right.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Auto FP works if you can get close enough It is burst of several short duration flashes. The idea is that with several short duration flashes, it will have a flash somewhere when the shutter is open. Kind of a shotgun approach. The flash intensity is quite low in FP so it's pretty short in duration. I have not tried the FP mode but it obviously works. Any tips out there, bring them on. My approach is just one way. I'm sure there are a lot more. More ideas, the better! Thanks for posting the FP idea.


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## MichaelW (Jun 16, 2010)

I am not sure it Auto FP will completely stop the wing motion. Still have a bit of experimenting to do. I got into the FP to darken the background but light up the subject. I have been putting the flashes to the sides. I think that it will end up working OK for a stationary subject but I suspect that the best way for birds will be the short flash duration like you described. Your right about the low power on the flash with FP. 

I have a question about the low power for you. If I trigger a SB 600 with the commander mode from a D 90 ( in Auto FP) the SB 600 will flash with reduced power. If I have a second flash that it triggered by a SU 4 unit will it also have reduced power ( thus the multiple flashes ) or will it produce full power. In other words can I get the second flash at the 1/16 flash duration. Hope I have explained this correctly.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Not mine, but something to shoot for (From the Birds Section of the Canon Photography on the Net forums).


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## MichaelW (Jun 16, 2010)

Pocketfisherman said:


> Not mine, but something to shoot for (From the Birds Section of the Canon Photography on the Net forums).


You have to be a member to see the photo.


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Nice pics!


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