Waiting for Dinner
by Jim Zablotny
My hummingbird shots are improving, but they still need your help in getting everything setup to my satisfaction. The BG is too flat and too blue and am in the process of redoing the BG for future endeavors. Focus, pose, and comp turned out well. I need some additional tweaks to the position of the flashes as the lighting is quite flat. I used 5 flashes (1 SB800 mounted off camera as the trigger; 1 SB-26 on the BG, 3 SB-26's on the hummer). All flashes were set at 1/32 power. Each flash was around 24 inches from the subject. My guess is that I need to move several of the flashes away from the bird to get some subtly shadowing produced. I appreciate your comments and critiques. Thank you. D500 600 mm f5.6 + 1.4x TC manual exposure settings (1/200 sec at f18, Iso 800). Full frame, levels, Brightness & contrast, reduction of saturation of cyan 2 and yellow...........................Jim
Comments
7 commentsI think this is a pretty good effort and that you self critique is accurate. The image does seem flat with monotone lighting.
Sounds like your flash setup is OK, but flash placement is everything. You have to be careful of flash spill from one flash affecting the lighting another flash is creating. Getting the flashes different distances from the subject will allow more shadowing and it will feel more natural. Experiment with turning one of the bird flashes off and you might be able to tell where the overlap is causing flat lighting. Doing these image is tough to get a really natural look. I think you're on a good path.
I think your flash work looks really nice.
Peter