Here is how I setup my photo stage for HB's. It is VERY simple and this one has 2 flash units setup at 1/64 power at about 8 inches to reduce the pulse width and thru distance increase power. This is the ONLY way to actually stop all wing motion and blur. The fastest camera shutter is way too slow to do so. I control my 3 flashes with an on camera infrared flash trigger called a STE-2 from Canon and this allows me to free up my 3rd and last flash for the birds (not shown in pictures). Next year I will buy another two flash units to provide better lighting and allow better backgrounds other than black (although the print hanging in this shot did indeed work, but made for a terrible background because it showed the texture of the canvas I printed it on!).
Ok, here is the side shot to give you an idea of position and distance:
And here is the back shot showing you what the camera saw.
The test tube feeder has string around it to tie on flowers and there is a metal wire shown on it that is my actual manual focus point (you cannot focus very good on the birds moving wings) which I remove in photoshop. All in all this is a VERY good setup and works very well. Keep in mind that you MUST set the flashes on manual mode at around 1/64th power which forces a very narrow light pulse width and the shutter can be around 1/100 s. The camera metering system MUST show an underexposure of at least -5ev or you will get blurry wings due to ambient light. You adjust the exposure with the flash distance (yes you move them back and forth), aperture and ISO. You NEED a good DOF (depth of field) so an aperture of at least f/16 is highly desired. I use a 400mm lens with 25mm of extension tube (to reduce the min. focus distance of the lens) at about 7 feet from the setup.
Oh yes, REMOVE ALL OTHER FEEDERS IN THE YARD to force the HBs to come to the one on the stage!
END OF PHOTO LESSON!
Mark Hilliard, N2HHR
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com
www.InfraredAtelier.com
This message has been edited by N2HHR on Oct 4, 2008 9:46 AM
I think a good flash system would be great, but at this point I strictly photograph in natural light. A properly set up flash system works great and gives you a better chance of getting the wings frozen. I come close to getting them in natural light, but I have never had one to turn out with perfectly frozen wings.
You will never have a set of wings frozen with natural light. There isn't a camera shutter on the market that is fast enough, even 1/8000s. My flash units freeze the wings with a pulse of light only 1/150,000s in length but you use a slow shutter speed. The down size of course is at that speed you loose almost all of the light power so you must move the flash units closer. The perfect setup requires 7 flash units. I only have 3 so I cannot get a lit background yet, but that is coming next year when I purchase more flash units. So until then I will have HB images with black backgrounds unless I place a photo in the background close enough to catch the light from my other flash units. So far this has worked but with results that I would not publish!
What you CAN do with natural light is shoot at a VERY FAST shutter speed and take a series of shots very fast hoping to catch the wings at the upper arc turn around. This is almost a stop action shot and I have seen LOTS of this type of image here. It is more a matter of luck to catch the wings in this fashion but if you take enough or have a lot of luck you will get them!!
Mark Hilliard, N2HHR
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com
www.InfraredAtelier.com
This message has been edited by N2HHR on Oct 4, 2008 11:13 PM
While this is an interesting idea, and speaking only for my self, know that I could never afford to purchase anywhere near this amount of equipment.
Or even want to.
This 'hobby' is not about trying to capture the 'perfect' photo with a perfect pose, but to have spontaneous fun, while watching these tiny jewels that have chosen 'our' garden over others!
And that includes watching the hummers at many different blooms and for lots of forum members, at feeders. Although for myself, the background of the members gardens that their photos show us, can't be beat.
If the photo shows blurry wing action, that's OK. If the wings are 'frozen' it's a bonus, and that's OK too.
There are quite a few excellent photographers that contribute to this site, but we don't feel 'bad' if 'ours' isn't as good as 'theirs' which may be perfect.
I think what forum members offer here, such as information on how to grow certain plants that encourage the hummers in our garden and their willingness to share seeds with others, is more important than the photos that they post.
I don't want to appear rude, and apologize if I am, but this forum is dedicated to the hummers not the photos and if the moderator chooses to remove some or all of the post, so be it.
Patricia
This message has been edited by costaricafinca on Oct 5, 2008 9:59 AM
Oh I agree totally. In fact images of HBs with wing motion imply action that is otherwise lost. I have enjoyed All of the photos that I have seen so far from everyone. In fact this morning I went back about 5 pages just to enjoy them. I balance the position of enjoyment of the HB's for myself and images of them for Stock sales. SO I look at things from 2 viewpoints. 90% of the time I just sit and watch in amazement as they battle around my yard. I only setup 3 or 4 times a year for actual images with the stage. Here, my intention was to simply share with some of the members who made kind comments on them as to how they were done, nothing more. In fact it is a terrible shame that my own images are on a black background! I too cannot afford the proper equipment to fix that until next year! Still, I muddle on with what I do have. But more importantly, here on this forum I learn about planting and behavior from those posting andI feel that I owe something in return and my area is simply technical photography! Hopefully, I will take the knowledge that I learned from here to replant my limited garden space next year (townhome with TINY back yard!) I think that you simply mis-read my intentions! Sorry to see you upset because of my post.
Thanks for the comments!
Mark Hilliard, N2HHR
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com
www.InfraredAtelier.com
This message has been edited by N2HHR on Oct 5, 2008 10:16 AM This message has been edited by N2HHR on Oct 5, 2008 10:11 AM
Mark, don't forget to check out the 'seed share' post if you are looking for plant varieties that not everyone has easy access to. At least, it gives one the idea of what definitely works, father than what the nursery says...
Thanks for showing us the equipment you are using Mark. I take it you do not have to be next to the camera to snap. I need to research how or if my camera can be adapted to do so.
Thanks for sharing your setup Mark, I find seven flashes to be the right amount although I only have five myself so only shoot more when sharing a setup with someone else who has flashes.
You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money on flashes the only requirement is that the flash has manual power settings and a optical trigger or a socket for a sync cord, optical triggers can be picked up on ebay for cheap, some of my flashes I only payed twenty dollars for some of mine, top of the line Nikon and Canon flashes aren't needed for hummingbirds but there is nothing wrong with using them either.
Almost all of the top bird photographers use flash, the only way you can tell is by how good the picture is, except for Hummingbirds its almost always fill flash. If you want to compete with the best you have to learn the same techniques they are using.
From what I have seen from hanging around here is that all pictures are appreciated here from blurry to perfect, were all at different skill levels with our photography and have different styles, that being said this isn't the place to find out if your pictures are any good, your pictures will be appreciated for what they are and what your trying to share.
Now hanging around here won't do your photography any good because you will see the pictures of the plants with hummers and will want the different plants and you will be gardening more and more and trying to get pictures of the hummers at the plants and the hummers will be spread all over your yard since you have planted in every available spot and are starting to rip up lawn for more garden space then you you will have to think about the Butterflies and the Bees and will have space for there garden, then you will need a pond with a waterfall so the hummers can bathe and to attract the other birds, and you just won't have the time to take pictures like you want!
Now about the subject of freezing the wings, some like it some don't, its nice to have some pictures with the wings frozen but I don't think it makes or breaks a picture, I actually like wing blur and when we are seeing them fly around the garden you don't see the wings at all except for a very transparent blur were the wings should be and I like take take some pictures that show that, but you need slow shutter speeds in the 1/30 to 1/60 range a touch of fill flash will still work, its tough to do and still get the eyes sharp.
This isn't our first photo technique thread and I am sure there will be more, others have shared there techniques also and that is how we learn so thanks for sharing what you are doing.
Black background will get boring pretty quick so if you have three flashes I would put two on the bird and one on the background, flashes at 1/2 power will still give great pictures I usually shoot at 1/4 power the background flash can be set higher if needed, the flashes on the bird should be all set to the same power.
Painted backgrounds are pretty easy to spot and never look natural try a pot of flowers set five or six feet back and you will like the results.
Martin
--
Vancouver Island, zone 8B
Nikon D70/D200 300 f4 af-s, 400 2.8 af-i
www.frogpondphotography.com
www.frogpondphotography.blogspot.com
That's an interesting setup. I lean towards the use of natural light, so I almost never use a flash. Have you ever thought about implementing your flash setup in a garden or around a potted plant?
Thank you for your time and expertise. That set up is very interesting. I have a Nikon D60. What would be the best lense for pulling those shots in. Some of them posted here even shows detail of the feathers. I was looking at the Nikon 70-300. In my price range but want to get what I need. Did allot of crime scene photography before C.S.I. came along (animal photography is much more pleasant).
to the forum.
Peace and many hummers,
Harley Hamm
Checotah, Okla.
This message has been edited by hhamm on Oct 5, 2008 7:44 PM This message has been edited by hhamm on Oct 5, 2008 7:43 PM
Well for me it is a 400mm with 25mm of extension tube to change the focus range. You dont need a really fast lens since you are shooting around f/20 for DOF. You can also do this with 2 flash units as long as you can put them into manual mode to control the pulse width, but you will get black backgrounds unless you put a plant a foot or so behind them (which I did today). You dont need expensive flash units but they should all be the same. So it can be done on the cheap! 400mm at about 7 feet fills the frame with the bird and flower! I will post some of the images from today this week. So far they really look good and I am pleased.
Mark Hilliard, N2HHR Coastal SC
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com & www.InfraredAtelier.com
Harley take a look at the Nikon 300 f4 af-s, its sharp wide open and still sharp stopped way down for hummingbirds, has a close focus distance of five feet and works well with teleconverters which a 70-300 wouldn't.
If that is too much the 70-300 af-s VR is probably the best cheap zoom out there and I got lots of great hummer pictures with my older 70-300 ED since there okay once you stop them down.
Martin
--
Vancouver Island, zone 8B
Nikon D70/D200 300 f4 af-s, 400 2.8 af-i
www.frogpondphotography.com
www.frogpondphotography.blogspot.com
I have another question that might seem elementary to most but I can't find the answer in my owners manual. My Nikon came with a Nikor 18-55 VR lense. Should I turn the VR on the lense off first or turn the camera off first?
Peace and many hummers,
Harley Hamm
Checotah, Okla.
This message has been edited by hhamm on Oct 7, 2008 10:28 PM This message has been edited by hhamm on Oct 7, 2008 10:27 PM This message has been edited by hhamm on Oct 5, 2008 9:22 PM
Very interesting post! Thanks for all of your tips, they are very valuable to us whom are trying to improve our photography. I wonder, if you use a reflector if that would help to eliminate the need for so many flash units? My kids are still little, so I don't try to spend too much time waiting around for the perfect shot... I have often thought of using my flash and trying to use the sun as a natural light source from the front (morning hours when it is low) and using a reflector from the back at an angle. I'm sure it wouldn't totally stop the wings, but I think i'll give it a shot next year.
Being a portrait photographer, I have a lot of the equipment needed, just haven't seriously tried to move it over to the wildlife world. It's a nice change of pace for me, very relaxing to do before the kids wake up in the morning. I shoot with mainly a Canon 20D, but also have a 5D if I want to use it. It produces too large a file for my liking, so I try to stick with the 20D. I like how I get the extra out of my 200 mm lens with the 1.6 conversion factor also.
Thanks again for the post! I'll hope to see more.
S.E. lower MI
USDA hardiness zone: 5B
Heat zone: 4
Good thought about the reflector and the sun but no it will not work. Here we are using the flash units in a very high speed mode to be the actual shutter. It is the very short burst of the flash units that freezes the wings. ANY AMBIENT LIGHT AT ALL WILL CAUSE WING BLUR! You dont need expensive flash units either, but any that can be put into a manual mode and control the burst timing! Just one point, make sure that all of the flash units you get are the same so that you get the same pulse width from each one
Mark Hilliard, N2HHR Coastal SC
www.MarkHilliardAtelier.com & www.InfraredAtelier.com
I have five different flashes, I find if I set them close to the same power I don't get any ghosting, have you tried it with different flashes Mark and had problems?
Cheri, like Mark says ambient light can cause ghosting or what looks like blurring but what it is a multilple exposure one from each light source but you can use the reflector to put some more light on the background or reflect the flashes and it would be fine.
When shooting ambient light the reflector works great especially when the sun gets higher in the sky, fills in the dark bellies nicely.
Martin
--
Vancouver Island, zone 8B
Nikon D70/D200 300 f4 af-s, 400 2.8 af-i
www.frogpondphotography.com
www.frogpondphotography.blogspot.com
Like you say effective shutter speed is the length of the flash pulse so you can shoot and low shutter speeds of 1/100 but it would show the differences in the flash durations at the lower shutter speed you use, I usually shoot at 1/250 and with my D70 I would shoot at 1/500 since it had the high flash sync.
Your 430 should work fine as a background flash since the background doesn't move or use a faster shutter speed and the ghosting shouldn't show.
Martin
--
Vancouver Island, zone 8B
Nikon D70/D200 300 f4 af-s, 400 2.8 af-i
www.frogpondphotography.com
www.frogpondphotography.blogspot.com
to the forum.
