Fawn-breasted Brilliant

Gallery: AvianPosted October 30, 2011838 views19 comments

Here's a multi-flash photo from our tour to Ecuador last year. It's cropped to about 60% of FF. This was taken at Alambi Lodge, I'm looking forward to getting back there this winter and doing some more of this type of photography.

1d MarkIII 500F4 1/250 F22, iso 640, 5 Nikon SB-26 slave flashes, artificial bg, hummingbird feeder

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on October 30, 2011 at 4:55 PM

Nice stop of the action, good color and detail. I like the OOF BG. Looking forward to seeing more from your next tripl. TFS

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on October 30, 2011 at 6:42 PM

Beautiful! Excellent work Nate.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on October 30, 2011 at 7:03 PM

Lovely image, Nate. Beautiful color and composition. Question on the setup. I note the SS is 1/250 which is not fast enough to stop action the wings. Is that because the flash is so quick it negates the slowness of the shutter?

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 30, 2011 at 7:10 PM

Thanks John, Peter and Nick.

Peter, yes that's correct, the flashes are set at 1/16 power which gives them an effective shutter speed of around 1/4000 or so. The setting on the camera is such that you would have a very dark or black image without the flashes so they don't get in the way of the flashes in terms of stopping the motion.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on October 30, 2011 at 7:55 PM

Perfectly executed with great colors a nice stop action and good composition. It does, however, look very "setup" (which it is but I'd imagine it's not the goal of your images). I think the two biggest clues to the setup are the background and the color of the light with the flower being hit with what appears to be a very white and bright light.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on October 30, 2011 at 7:55 PM

Very nice, the flash work looks very subtle. I've wanted to try this method myself.
It's amazing how this technique freezes the motion so well.
But as you say, at 1/16th power and an equivalent or effective 1/4000th shutter speed the job gets done..
Beautiful shot Nate

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on October 30, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Spectacular shot, Nate. To me it has a beautiful, painterly look.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 30, 2011 at 9:56 PM

It's amazing the action you can capture with the use of high speed flash. Instant moments such as this one, your eyes barely recognize as the bird zooms into the scene, as the photographer you instinctly release the shutter and hopefully capture the perfect moment. Great catch of this beautiful gem Nate

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on October 31, 2011 at 2:45 PM

Wow ! The flash thing is not my expertise level (yet

), but it sounds sophisticated ! In any case the result is stunning, very well done ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on October 31, 2011 at 6:17 PM

Nate, Nice capture. The pose and the flower look great.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on November 1, 2011 at 12:22 AM

Very nice, Nate. I had a chance to watch another NPNer (Glenn Bartley) shooting a multi-flash set up, and it's not as easy as a viewer might think.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on November 1, 2011 at 12:29 AM

Truly beautiful, is all that I can say

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on November 1, 2011 at 6:29 AM

Awesome capture Nate, perhaps the best Hummer-in-flight shot I've ever seen, tack sharp and beautifully coloured, totally amazing, exceptionally well done!!! :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on November 1, 2011 at 10:39 AM

An absolute beauty Nate. Love the flared tail and the out-stretched wings.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on November 1, 2011 at 2:46 PM

Wonderful hummer flight shot Nate, I like the pose and background colors, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 1, 2011 at 8:47 PM

The bird is a beauty Nate. Really like the stop action on this one.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on November 2, 2011 at 7:49 AM

Beautiful light and colors on the bird, wonderful background also.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Soubhik Patranabis on November 2, 2011 at 4:02 PM

Beautiful - perfect frame ..

Registered on January 25, 2010, 54 Posts, 610 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 3, 2011 at 5:04 PM

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Bill, the slave flashes provide all the light so this would be an underexposure of what my camera is reading by about 3 stops. Without the slave flashes the photo would be black or almost black (very underexposed). This is done on purpose because otherwise you will have ghosting (a blurred image on top of a sharp image). The effective shutter speed is provided by the flashes being set at 1/16 power so the effective shutter speed is more like 1/4000.

My cameras flash synch speed is 1/300

As far as depth of field, I'm trying to get both the hummingbird and the flower in sharp focus and I'm working at close quarters, additionally with the slave flashes providing the light I am able to stop down a lot.

This is 60% of the original image, so 40% has been cropped away.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments