Post Your Best Nature Shots!

[Fast Glass]

Sometimes I like my pictures very saturated, but not all the time depends on the shot. How bokeh taste anyway?![:P]


John.

[wickerprints]

Thanks for the compliments... here are some more I took. It was a learning process to get the shots set up just right. Now if I had the EF 300/4L IS, I could probably get the bird in the frame without needing to crop... They're a lot of fun to shoot!


5D2 + 70-200/2.8L IS @ 200mm @ 1/200s @ f/8 @ ISO 160, manual flash. I think I set my flash-to-ambient ratio a little too high--he was approaching the feeder and when the flash went off, he clearly startled. At one point he came right up to me to investigate, hovered almost belligerently just a few feet away, then buzzed off. This one guarded the feeder jealously, chasing away all the other hummingbirds that dared to take a sip.


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Here is a 100% crop from the same image. He looks a bit disheveled because he'd been fighting off the competition all day.


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Some days later, I think I got more shots of the same bird, though I honestly can't be sure since I can't really tell them apart. But he behaved in the same territorial fashion. 5D2 + 70-200/2.8L IS @ 200mm @ 1/160s @ f/6.3 @ ISO 160, manual flash. By now I figured out how to get close enough to them to shoot near MFD. This time I got better exposure but the lighting direction wasn't as flattering. If I could just get my flash off camera and use an umbrella, this would be SOOO much better.


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And again, here's a 100% crop. You can just make out the tip of his tongue [:P] Makes me wish I lived in an area where other, more colorful hummingbird species are known to visit. I'd have a field day!


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Thanks again for looking []

[msmaneri1991]

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I am having a tough time setting the image dimensions without warping the image =p[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.33.50/IMG_5F00_5504a.jpg[/img]

[Bill W]

Wickerprints;


Nice captures of the HB.


I've tried a few captures w/a flash, but I wash out their eye and need to do quite a bit of PSing to bring the eye back.


What do you do to avoid over exposing the eye with "catch light"?


40D, 100-400 IS are what I use and sometimes the 580EX ll.


Regards


Bill

[wickerprints]

Wickerprints;


Nice captures of the HB.


I've tried a few captures w/a flash, but I wash out their eye and need to do quite a bit of PSing to bring the eye back.


What do you do to avoid over exposing the eye with "catch light"?


40D, 100-400 IS are what I use and sometimes the 580EX ll.


Regards


Bill
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Thanks! All I can say about the use of flash in the hummingbird pics is that you can't use ETTL...it has to be manual. Depending on your ambient lighting conditions, you have to adjust your exposure and ISO accordingly. I've found 1/8 to 1/4 power on the flash works in my situation, but if your ambient light is low (e.g., very early or late in the day), then you may use even less flash power. I underexpose the background by about 1 stop, but again, you just have to play with it.


The recipe:

1. Use manual mode and meter your scene. Set the exposure about 1 - 1.5 stops under, shutter speed around 1/200s.
2. Set flash power to 1/4 in manual mode.
3. Test it out. If you are using a feeder to lure the hummingbirds, review the image to make sure you're not overexposing the foreground by too much, no more than 0.5 stops or so. If you are, dial down the flash power accordingly.
4. Also check the background exposure. It should be a bit dark but not black. If it is darker than you would like, set the exposure brighter by opening up the aperture or increasing ISO, in that order of preference. Don't slow the shutter speed too much because then you will blur the hummingbird.
5. Here is a key secret. Place your feeder in the shade, and position your camera so that the background is brightly lit. That is, try to deliberately create a backlit situation. What this will do is increase your reliance of proper exposure of the bird on your flash. This will enable you to freeze motion. Also, if you can, get your flash off your camera.
6. Experiment!

[Wes]

Shot this on the way back from a morning meeting. There were seven of the boys laying along the fence line at 11:30 taking a noon time nap.

[Julius]

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[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Savannah Sparrow


40D &amp; 500 f/4L IS, f/4, 1/2500, ISO 200


Thanks for viewing [] and commenting []

[Fred Doane]

Nate,

That lens is just magical! I'm assuming the bird was very close to your location. Was it almost at the MFD? Of course you did a great job perfectly exposing the shot. That lens has been on my wish list for a long time. Maybe this next spring... Are you hand holding it or do you have a Gimbal style head mounted on a tripod?

Fred~

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Hi Fred,


the birdwas about 20' from me, I handhold this lens and currently don't own a tripod/gimbal head. The 500 f/4 is very handholdable.