Technical Problems--Advice or Suggestions Appreciated

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[bob williams]

Thanks A.Rod. I have read a lot from this guy (Eric Miller) but missed this particular explanation.....It seems that he describes the cause, effect and cure for my ghosting problem (the second type--Dodging) ---Looks like I have to go back to plants on the backporch for a background instead of trees in the back yard.


Thanks again,


Bob

[Joel Eade]

Bob,


Of all the suggestions so far I think Ben could be right. I do not think increasing shutter speed or using rear curtain sync will help. My suspicion is that it might be the different brand flashes having different pulse durations or it could be that 1/16 power is just not fast enough. I have had this happen frequently as well at 1/16th power.


I would try using only one flash on the BG and use all your other ones for the bird at 1/32 power, just move them a little closer to account for light loss due to inverse square rule. I would also opt for a slower shutter speed and slightly higher ISO.


Joel

[btaylor]

Maybe one of our engineer friends can shed some light on the subject (no pun intended---well, maybe a little pun-[img]/emoticons/emotion-13.gif[/img])
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I'm an engineer, but a mining engineer not electrical. So I can't really help you out with the circuitry stuff but if you need to blow your speedlites up or bury them in a VERY large hole I'm your man. []

[bob williams]

I'm an engineer, but a mining engineer not electrical. So I can't really help you out with the circuitry stuff but if you need to blow your speedlites up or bury them in a VERY large hole I'm your man. [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img]

Ben, Thanks for the offer, but my wife says I'll have to pass----Although I often wish to have someone with your talents in my back yard[]

[bob williams]

Mr. Williams

A.Rod, Please, please , please call me "Bob"---we are all equals here---BTW, what is your first name? I ask only because " A.Rodriguez.Photo" is too hard for me to type[:^)]---By the way, Your link to that website was very, very helpful---Thanks again.


Bob.

[bob williams]

Bob,


Of all the suggestions so far I think Ben could be right. I do not think increasing shutter speed or using rear curtain sync will help. My suspicion is that it might be the different brand flashes having different pulse durations or it could be that 1/16 power is just not fast enough. I have had this happen frequently as well at 1/16th power.


I would try using only one flash on the BG and use all your other ones for the bird at 1/32 power, just move them a little closer to account for light loss due to inverse square rule. I would also opt for a slower shutter speed and slightly higher ISO.


Joel
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Joel, You and Ben may be correct, But I also think that the A.Rods's link has significant merit. Eric Millerdesribed my problem perfectly and offered solutions to overcome it.If I still have birds thisweekend, I will try and overcome the problem by moving my background back up to the shaded porch and using more flashes to see if I can increase my keeper rate. If that fails then I maybe be stuck. Ihave 5 flashesand really have no other use for them other that this obsession with H-birds---So I am reluctant to purchase more speed lights. Wish me luck and I will post results, good or bad...


Thanks,


Bob

[conropl]

I wouldn't think think it is a problem with multiple flashes. This one was shot with one flash and it has plenty of ghosting (wings and tail). The background was about 8-10 feet behind the bird and was white.


Pat


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[bob williams]

Pat, I think you are correct---A.Rod offered a website that clearly explains this---The problem seems to be a distant background and/or a background that is well exposed. And this is exactly what I experienced when I moved to a more distant background and decided to add more lights to that background. To date, my best keeper rate was realized when I was shooting a natural background (flowers and foliage) only about 2 or 3 feet behind the target bird and in a well shaded area. I tried to improve the bokeh by moving to a distant background, but then the ghosting increased considerably. I could reduce my aperture to improve bokeh, but then the focus range on the bird is decreased from 1/2 inch to paper thin thereby reducing keeper rate----So it looks like I just need to find a happy medium and do as much as I can to block out any ambient light. I thought about hanging black tar paper from my porch to block out ambient light, but my wife has issues with this[].


Thanks,


Bob

[bob williams]

I would try using only one flash on the BG and use all your other ones for the bird at 1/32 power, just move them a little closer to account for light loss due to inverse square rule. I would also opt for a slower shutter speed and slightly higher ISO.


Joel

This is a great idea, and if I still have birds this weekend, I'll give it a shot. If not, I will try out my new doghouse blind and try and shoot some songbirds.





Bob