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I'll see your duck and raise you a hummingbird.


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17 replies to this topic

#1
krag96

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These guys can move, and move fast!  Of 40-50 shots, I managed to get some in focus with decent light.  I tried auto focus, but these tiny guys are FAST!..and they dodge around quite a bit.  I set my Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 D on manual focus and used f11-16 for most shots.  The D 700 on auto WB with a shutter set at 1/180-1/250 as the light contrast was quite wide. 

 

So, without further ado, humming birds in my back yard. 

 

I welcome comments and suggestions for improvement.  The photos are cropped and enlarged quite a bit, but I think the old D 700 and 80-200mm f/2.8 D did rather well considering their age...and mine.  Maybe tomorrow I'll try a few with the older yet Nikkor 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 AF. 

 

 

 

 

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gYiv7JZ.jpg

 

hvKGASF.jpg

 

 

Xr75Jqe.jpg

 

m8Rq8c4.jpg

 

 

DIZJfrj.jpg

 

 

 

 


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#2
Ron

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I feel your pain.

 

Two words... Fill Flash! That, along with zone focusing and narrow apertures can really up your keeper ratio, but you're right, these guys can really move.

 

--Ron



#3
Nikon Shooter

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Fill Flash? Really Ron?

The consequence of using Fill Flash will be it flattens the shot and
it doesn't look so natural anymore. I would prefer to propose some
tweaking of the mid-tones through an adjustment layer on the bird.

May I dare suggest a subtle tonal taming rendition?

Attached Thumbnails

  • HB 1.jpg


#4
krag96

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Ron, I didn't take the SB 800 out, but did do a few with the camera's flash and as N-S said, they turned out FLAT!

 

Here's a few samples.  They look like a poorly staged museum exhibit.  I wouldn't go as far as to say they're noisy, but very grainy to say the least.

 

  I did run these through Affinity Photo, but just to crop and resize them.  I'm learning Affinity a step at a time...You're tonal changes do look better.

 

b3ZqohM.jpg

 

2HEImsV.jpg



#5
Nikon Shooter

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Mind you, krag, Ron is right… when the subject is
alone and at a distance in front of the background.



#6
krag96

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I wouldn't call my use of the camera's flash, ''fill'' either.  The distance was well within the camera's flash range, (12m) and I didn't use a diffuser, although somewhere around here I have a few that fit the little flash on board the camera, (BTW, the flash on the D 700 isn't automatic, it needs to be activated by hand).  I use flash so rarely, I forget about it most of the time. 



#7
Ron

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It was a suggestion, nothing more. A technique I've used on many occasions (usually with orchids in the wild). If it doesn't work for you, I got nothing to add... except that, when I was first introduced to TTL flash back when we were still shooting film, and my mentor told me to put the flash on TTL, set the camera aperture to f/16 and the shutter speed to whatever flash sync happened to be and fire away, I thought he was nuts. Until I tried it. 

 

--Ron



#8
Nikon Shooter

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Hey Ron,

I use TTL flash too but only when the subject is well detach
from its environment. 



#9
Ron

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How about moving the flash off camera? Can I get a nibble there? Never mind. :blink:

 

--Ron



#10
Nikon Shooter

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No, no, I do mind and you have the right idea.

If krag were to set a radio remote flash by the feeder with a
bounce, that would work for sure… you may nibble*, Ron! :P
Being careful with the specular high lights in the plastic.


* had to look that up too! :)



#11
Ron

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I guess what I'm struggling to say is that there's more than one way to tackle this problem. And, yes, I understand about specular highlights. Sometimes they can be fixed in post but it's better to not have to deal with them in the first place... unless you want them (See:Starburst patterns!)

 

--Ron



#12
Nikon Shooter

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there's more than one way to tackle this problem.

Ooooh yes, there is but the on-camera flash solution is the
least desirable.

Let's not take the starburst away… krag won't like that! :P


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#13
krag96

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Oh I do like the star bursts!  I'm waiting for local classic car shows to re-open to get some nice ones on polished classic and muscle cars...if it's a sunny day.



#14
Nikon Shooter

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… if it's a sunny day.


I'll take care of that since we have too much of the heat that
comes with it… we can spare one and send it your way! :)



#15
krag96

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The tone taming does look better, now here's an idea for the lighting.  I stole this idea from Chelsea Northrup!  She made a low cost-low tech beauty light for portraits using a white plastic popcorn bowel, a paper plate, some foil, tape, rubber band, and a small flash light.  It actually works very well for it's intended purpose, though a bit clumsy unless mounted, (an easy enough to fix in several ways using what's available).  Laugh if you like, it is a total hack job, but it does work to fill in shadows with soft light.  Would a humming bird tolerate such an invasion of it's feeding space?  I may have to find out.  They seem more disturbed by other humming birds fighting for the nectar than anything else. 

 

Here's a link to Chelsea's popcorn bowel beauty light if you're interested.  https://youtu.be/_e814GYau3g


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#16
Ron

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At the nearby tropical botanical gardens they have a butterfly/humming bird conservatory and they originally used to allow flash photography... in fact I did a lot of flash photography there when they first opened.

 

Recently, however, they've placed a restriction on flash use because of it's negative effect on humming birds in particular. Something I had forgotten when I made my original suggestion to you. I can't, at the moment, remember what the problem was but it changed their behavior in some way that was undesirable.

 

So, while you may want to try something like that, know that it may have a detrimental effect on your humming birds. Perhaps a continuous light source such as an LED video light would make a suitable replacement. I have some other ideas but I'm going to stop here. I've probably mucked around with your workflow too much to begin with.  :o  

 

--Ron



#17
krag96

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Not at all, Ron.  Exchanging ideas is why we're here, please proceed.  The popcorn bowl lighting system seems a bit far out, but it looks like it works well enough for an expedient soft light source.


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#18
Ron

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It'll have to wait anyway. I'm dealing with a bulky website today. :(

 

--Ron