Quote Originally Posted by Bill W


Bob....good thought to start this link and you have some nice shots, but I have to say I prefer natural light capturing my HBs.

Well, Afew of reasons I am trying to get the flash technique down.


1st--To get the bright <span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]Iridescent colors to light up.According to most of my reading,off camera flash (usually multiple flashes)is the only consistant way to achieve this.


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]2nd, I like the natural look of blurred wings, but I also like to see some detail in the wings, not complete blurs or ghosted images. To me, the ghosting often makes it look like the bird has four wings


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]3rd, My bird feeder is under a shaded porch or early in the morning it has a strong backlight from the rising sun---Either way, I need some sort of light unless I move my equipment in to the yard and then I get the house as a background..


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]Finally, Don't get me wrong, You and others that use existing light are getting some great shots--I really like them. But for me, its as much about understanding the technical challenge offlash technique as it is about getting the shot.


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]Here are a couple of more shots I took yesterday: Although I didn't achieve my goals, I am getting closer--On these shots the wings are almost frozen, thanks to 1/4000 shutter speed and attached flash on HSS at about 1/16th power. Actually the wings are a little too frozen, even for my taste and I didn't get the color pop that I do with the off camera flash, but, again, I am starting to understand more. This afternoon, I will slow the shutter to 1/2000 with same set up and see if I can get the wing effect I am looking for.


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]This shot is very soft, but I did like the comical pose the bird offered:


<span style="font-family: Verdana; color: #000000; font-size: 9pt;"]





Here are a couple more: