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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
"jimkramer" wrote in message ... Welcome to the frustrating world of photographing hummingbirds. http://www.jlkramer.net/Pictures/HB/morning.htm -Jim It needn't be so frustrating. Didn't you just move to Mississippi? If you will put all your feeders within 10 feet of each other (and the First Nature one that is in your photo is inexpensive and one of the best available) you will, within the next two week or so, you will have too many hummingbirds to photograph. At that point set up a pancake style humminbird feeder (humzinger and Perky Pet Oasis are two examples of this type) supported from the bottom and place it about 30 feet away from the other feeders and in the shade. It will get regular visits and will likely only get one hummer at a time (with some fighting). Get your flash off camera and set it to a manual setting of 1/2 or full power. Put it at a height of about two feet above the feeder pointing at the feeder at a downward and horizontal angle of about 45 degrees to the line of sight from the camera. Use a small diffuser that does not send light in directions leading away from the subject, such as the Westcott Micro Apollo or the $5 foamcore one he http://www.dyesscreek.com/hidden_pages/diffuser.html What you don't want is a Gary Fong Lightsphere, cut alcohol bottle, Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce or anything that will send your flash's light to places where your subject isn't. If you two flashes, put one on either side of the bird, again, pointing away from you and down at the bird at about a 45 degree angle on both axes. If you don't have two flashes, use a piece of white foamcore as a reflector on the opposite side of the bird. Your camera should be at a level approximately six inches above the feeder, which is the same level the bird will be most of the time that you shoot it. Put thumbtacks in the holes of the feeder leaving only one open and orient it such that you will get the side of the hummer that you want. Rotate the feeder to get different "poses." Cut the perches off the feeder if it has them and they cannot be removed any other way. After the hummingbird sips, it will "back up" and hover for a moment before sipping again. Shoot it while it is hovering in-between sips. Let the wings blur. They look natural that way and the trade-offs are worth it: http://www.dyesscreek.com/birds/inde...r=hummingbirds During mid-september, and especially after any big storm blows through, you will be able to shoot hundreds of shots in one sitting. Eric Miller www.dyesscreek.com |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
"Eric Miller" wrote in message
. .. "jimkramer" wrote in message ... Welcome to the frustrating world of photographing hummingbirds. http://www.jlkramer.net/Pictures/HB/morning.htm -Jim It needn't be so frustrating. Didn't you just move to Mississippi? If you will put all your feeders within 10 feet of each other (and the First Nature one that is in your photo is inexpensive and one of the best available) you will, within the next two week or so, you will have too many hummingbirds to photograph. At that point set up a pancake style humminbird feeder (humzinger and Perky Pet Oasis are two examples of this type) supported from the bottom and place it about 30 feet away from the other feeders and in the shade. It will get regular visits and will likely only get one hummer at a time (with some fighting). Get your flash off camera and set it to a manual setting of 1/2 or full power. Put it at a height of about two feet above the feeder pointing at the feeder at a downward and horizontal angle of about 45 degrees to the line of sight from the camera. Use a small diffuser that does not send light in directions leading away from the subject, such as the Westcott Micro Apollo or the $5 foamcore one he http://www.dyesscreek.com/hidden_pages/diffuser.html What you don't want is a Gary Fong Lightsphere, cut alcohol bottle, Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce or anything that will send your flash's light to places where your subject isn't. If you two flashes, put one on either side of the bird, again, pointing away from you and down at the bird at about a 45 degree angle on both axes. If you don't have two flashes, use a piece of white foamcore as a reflector on the opposite side of the bird. Your camera should be at a level approximately six inches above the feeder, which is the same level the bird will be most of the time that you shoot it. Put thumbtacks in the holes of the feeder leaving only one open and orient it such that you will get the side of the hummer that you want. Rotate the feeder to get different "poses." Cut the perches off the feeder if it has them and they cannot be removed any other way. After the hummingbird sips, it will "back up" and hover for a moment before sipping again. Shoot it while it is hovering in-between sips. Let the wings blur. They look natural that way and the trade-offs are worth it: http://www.dyesscreek.com/birds/inde...r=hummingbirds During mid-september, and especially after any big storm blows through, you will be able to shoot hundreds of shots in one sitting. Eric Miller www.dyesscreek.com Thanks for the pointers Eric. I put up two feeders and am now going through just over a gallon of sugar water in a week. The feeders each have ten holes and I have seen as many as eight on a feeder used at one time, not for long mind you. :-) I've counted well over 20 at once in air and on feeder. There was just a mass hatching as there are lots of juvenile males (oxymoron?) that are just coming in to colors. They are fairly tame, you can stand with in 2 feet of the feeders and they will still come up to feed, just don’t move quickly. My goal is to make Bret furious by getting set up to shoot them with the MP-E 65. :-) Have you tried flashing from the underside to get the gorget to flare? Any flower recommendations? -Jim |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
Eric Miller wrote,on my timestamp of 28/08/2008 1:37 AM:
Put thumbtacks in the holes of the feeder leaving only one open and orient it such that you will get the side of the hummer that you want. Rotate the feeder to get different "poses." Cut the perches off the feeder if it has them and they cannot be removed any other way. After the hummingbird sips, it will "back up" and hover for a moment before sipping again. Shoot it while it is hovering in-between sips. and don't forget to paste in a few blossoms to replace that ugly feeder... So tell me something: how do you get blurred wings with two flashes? Do you slow down lightspeed as well? Last time I looked, the exposure time of a flash burst will freeze solid any moving wings. Let the wings blur. They look natural that way and the trade-offs are worth it: or just photoslop them in from another shot, blur and all. Bret would. |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
Eric Miller wrote:
directions leading away from the subject, such as the Westcott Micro Apollo or the $5 foamcore one he http://www.dyesscreek.com/hidden_pages/diffuser.html (This is not about hummingbirds.) I'm wondering if I'm confused about the point you are making in the link above. I actually prefer the lighting in the second photo without the diffuser. Or is that the point? Russell BTW, you hummingbird photos are awesome. |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
jimkramer wrote:
Any flower recommendations? A friend tells me this salvia is their favorite target in his garden: http://edgehill.net/California/Bay-A...y/full-set/pg2 It makes 3-foot long spikes like that (only about 3 inches are shown) and stands about 5 feet tall. -- Paul Furman www.edgehill.net www.baynatives.com all google groups messages filtered due to spam |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
"Russell D." wrote in message ... Eric Miller wrote: directions leading away from the subject, such as the Westcott Micro Apollo or the $5 foamcore one he http://www.dyesscreek.com/hidden_pages/diffuser.html (This is not about hummingbirds.) I'm wondering if I'm confused about the point you are making in the link above. I actually prefer the lighting in the second photo without the diffuser. Or is that the point? Russell BTW, you hummingbird photos are awesome. OOPS! Wrong link. The diffuser link that I wanted to post is the following: http://www.dyesscreek.com/hummingbir...box/index.html The one that was posted was on a different subject entirely and used the wrong type of diffuser for hummingbird photography. Eric Miller www.dyesscreek.com |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
"Eric Miller" wrote in message
... "Russell D." wrote in message ... Eric Miller wrote: directions leading away from the subject, such as the Westcott Micro Apollo or the $5 foamcore one he http://www.dyesscreek.com/hidden_pages/diffuser.html (This is not about hummingbirds.) I'm wondering if I'm confused about the point you are making in the link above. I actually prefer the lighting in the second photo without the diffuser. Or is that the point? Russell BTW, you hummingbird photos are awesome. OOPS! Wrong link. The diffuser link that I wanted to post is the following: http://www.dyesscreek.com/hummingbir...box/index.html just not your day for links--- htm not html http://www.dyesscreek.com/hummingbir...tbox/index.htm The one that was posted was on a different subject entirely and used the wrong type of diffuser for hummingbird photography. Eric Miller www.dyesscreek.com |
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[PICS] frustration of hummingbirds
"jimkramer" wrote in message ... I put up two feeders and am now going through just over a gallon of sugar water in a week. The feeders each have ten holes and I have seen as many as eight on a feeder used at one time, not for long mind you. :-) Soon you will have many more birds coming through and a lot of adult males will lead the crowd. There was just a mass hatching as there are lots of juvenile males (oxymoron?) . . . "Truism" is the word I think you are looking for if my wife is correct. My goal is to make Bret furious by getting set up to shoot them with the MP-E 65. :-) Good luck with that. Give a 70-200 with a 1.4x teleconverter a try if you just want to get close. For filling the frame, my lens of choice is a 400mm 5.6 (Canon's EF 400 5/5.6L) with an extension tube, somewhere around 35mm length. Have you tried flashing from the underside to get the gorget to flare? No. But I have tested lighting from different angles but never got around to posting a web page on that subject. My verdict is: illuminate from above. A rubythroat's gorget will light up best if illuminated from above while the bird is facing you. Of course, this is foiled by the bird sometimes because they can apparently control whether the red shows or not. After testing by placing the flash at different angles to the feeder and rotating the feeder to change the position of the birds, it dawned on me that I probably should have known this anyway since that is where their light comes when not being photographed. Anyway, this photo shows the bird with light hitting the bird at an approximate 45 degree downward angle and from about the same angle to the right and left of the line from the lens to the bird: http://www.dyesscreek.com/birds/inde...2Fcrw_6372.jpg Any flower recommendations? For attracting them to the yard, the three most successful plants that I have a Mimosa a.k.a. Silk Tree - when this blooms in spring, my hummingbird numbers grow significantly. Turk's Cap - when this blooms in late summer and fall (right now) the birds will ignore the feeders until they have drained this plant first. Coral Honeysuckle - another plant that the birds will feed from before the feeder. Eric Miller www.dyesscreek.com |
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frustration of hummingbirds
Annika1980 wrote,on my timestamp of 28/08/2008 10:45 AM:
So tell me something: how do you get blurred wings with two flashes? Do you slow down lightspeed as well? Last time I looked, the exposure time of a flash burst will freeze solid any moving wings. Not unless you have a VERY high-speed flash unit. Hummingbird wings beat so fast you'd need about 1/15,000 of a second to freeze it totally. Just to prove what sort of a liar you a http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MarkLevin.shtml If you take a flash to a spinning airplane propeller, you'll freeze the action right there. Even 1/1000 will do it. Hummingbirds beat their wings much, much slower than a spinning propeller, at around 60Hz. That's why they are called "humming": the noise from their wings is a low pitch "hum". Or in photo terms, around 1/60 second. If you used the default synch speed of your camera of around 1/200, the wings would be nearly frozen solid. So how come the hummie bodies show evidence of flash light reflection but the wings are blurred? Strange flash you have, that has a flash burst speed of less than 1/60. May I suggest you try to sell it in epay? Must be worth a fortune! Like I said: nothing like letting a liar like you talk. It shows straight away what you claim is nothing but crap. But everyone already knew that, it's only you who can't fathom how silly you really make yourself look. |
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frustration of hummingbirds
"Annika1980" wrote in message
... On Aug 28, 9:08 am, Noons wrote: Or in photo terms, around 1/60 second. If you used the default synch speed of your camera of around 1/200, the wings would be nearly frozen solid. So how come the hummie bodies show evidence of flash light reflection but the wings are blurred? You are an idiot. If a hummer beats his wings at 50 beats per second then the wings will make one full cycle of motion in 1/50 of a second. At a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second the wings will go through 1/4 of their total cycle of motion. In other words they'll move a couple of inches in the time that the shutter is open. So tell us again how 1/200 is going to freeze the motion? Better yet, provide us ANY examples of that happening without the use of high-speed flash. The difference between someone that is just ignorant and someone that is just an idiot; you can teach the ignorance away, not so with the idiotcy. You have clearly identified the problem; the only logical course of action should also be painfully apparent, lest we begin to categorize you as well. -Jim |
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