Post your best bird shots!

[Raid]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]Joel<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<o><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"]</o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"]<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"]<span style="font-size: small;"]<span style="font-family: Calibri;"]You only post these to make mere mortals feel bad don&rsquo;t you[:'(].<o></o>

[ddt0725]

I

[dsiegel5151]

Geez those humming birds look good! I was trying to get some myself (not as good of course), but unfortunately, the bees have found my feeders. I took them down and I plan on putting them back up in a couple days. Hopefully no bees will come back. Here's a chickadee from this morning:





ps. Everyone was right. The 400 f5.6L is way more fun than the 300 f4L IS! Unfortunately it's only a loaner from my father so these bees need to get lost before it starts getting cold!

[dsiegel5151]

Nevermind. My sentinel hummer is still guarding the feeder location. Looks like there will be humming bird shots this year after all!

[dsiegel5151]

I felt bad for my sentinel and re-hung my feeders. My girlfriend is not happy, as the bees are now back. But oh well...

[bob williams]

Wow, Joel, Your killing me----these are great, I love the fact that you captured the irridescent red throat on the RTHP---something I am still struggling with my birds. And your shots are so sharp----Killer job here. I have to ask.........How do you like shooting the hummers???? Do you find it as challenging and rewarding as I do?------


I fight with setup, settings, flashes, backgrounds and ultimately the birds, but after a few hundred shots you get that one good one, does it make everything else worthwhile?


Now the critique---I do the same to myself------In the first shot, you have some ghosting of the left wing---If this is what you prefer-----then cudos to you and a great shot--If not, I have some suggestions:


1. You have to isolate the bird and the background with flash only---any natural light sneaking in will cause ghosting----This is actually a good thing since you can tighten down the aperature to get more DOF---sometimes f16 or even f22.


2. Use your flashes to adjust the amount of wing-blur you like. if you like mild to moderate wing blur try 1/8th to 1/16 flash power, if you want frozen wings, you may have to go as high as 1/64th or 1/128 but not all flashes will go that high-- I have two vivitar flashes that only go to 1/16 so I almost always have a little wing blur. If you can

[bob williams]

Dsiegle, beautiful shot of this little guy.


Bob

[Raid]

Here is a challenge for all of you Humming Bird experts, how about a front on shot of the whole bird while hovering?

[Joel Eade]

Wow, Joel, Your killing me----these are great, I love the fact that you captured the irridescent red throat on the RTHP---something I am still struggling with my birds. And your shots are so sharp----Killer job here. I have to ask.........How do you like shooting the hummers???? Do you find it as challenging and rewarding as I do?------


I fight with setup, settings, flashes, backgrounds and ultimately the birds, but after a few hundred shots you get that one good one, does it make everything else worthwhile?


Now the critique---I do the same to myself------In the first shot, you have some ghosting of the left wing---If this is what you prefer-----then cudos to you and a great shot--If not, I have some suggestions:


1. You have to isolate the bird and the background with flash only---any natural light sneaking in will cause ghosting----This is actually a good thing since you can tighten down the aperature to get more DOF---sometimes f16 or even f22.


2. Use your flashes to adjust the amount of wing-blur you like. if you like mild to moderate wing blur try 1/8th to 1/16 flash power, if you want frozen wings, you may have to go as high as 1/64th or 1/128 but not all flashes will go that high-- I have two vivitar flashes that only go to 1/16 so I almost always have a little wing blur. If you can't get enough light on the bird--try moving the flashes closer. Don't worry to much about the birds---they get use to the equipment---I often have birds landing on my flashes or camera even when I am shooting.


Hope this helps----keep shooting and lets bounce some "lessons learned" from each other. I am still trying to get flowers in my shots, but those that I attach to my feeders always seem to wilt before I get "the shot"---so, I keep trying. If you figure out the secret, please let me know.


Thanks and great post,


Bob.

Bob, thanks for the kind words and helpful hints. I agree with everything you suggested. I very much enjoy the technical challenge of getting a great hummingbird shot.


The throat (gorget) is a challenge for sure....I find if I lower one of the flashes off to the side about 45 degrees and angle it upwards toward the birds it seems to help.


For flowers you probably need live plants and then "seed" one blossom with sugar water to get them coming to your spot. I haven't done that yet but have read about it.


For backgrounds I am just using the trees in the distance (50 feet or so) behind my house but I know many people use large prints that are out of focus or blurred, then you need some way to position them and hold them in place, maybe an old tripod and some clamps.


Sharpness....I use AF, central sensor only, I try to prefocus where I expect to get the shot. In post I use Topaz Denoise and Topaz In Focus they are awesome. When resizing for the web I use the bicubic sharpening option and set the resolution to 300 then resize to 800 pixels wide.


Here's spme from this morning...


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1602.343V4886.jpg[/img]


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5531.343V4874.jpg[/img]

[Joel Eade]

Wow, Joel, Your killing me----these are great, I love the fact that you captured the irridescent red throat on the RTHP---something I am still struggling with my birds. And your shots are so sharp----Killer job here. I have to ask.........How do you like shooting the hummers???? Do you find it as challenging and rewarding as I do?------


I fight with setup, settings, flashes, backgrounds and ultimately the birds, but after a few hundred shots you get that one good one, does it make everything else worthwhile?


Now the critique---I do the same to myself------In the first shot, you have some ghosting of the left wing---If this is what you prefer-----then cudos to you and a great shot--If not, I have some suggestions:


1. You have to isolate the bird and the background with flash only---any natural light sneaking in will cause ghosting----This is actually a good thing since you can tighten down the aperature to get more DOF---sometimes f16 or even f22.


2. Use your flashes to adjust the amount of wing-blur you like. if you like mild to moderate wing blur try 1/8th to 1/16 flash power, if you want frozen wings, you may have to go as high as 1/64th or 1/128 but not all flashes will go that high-- I have two vivitar flashes that only go to 1/16 so I almost always have a little wing blur. If you can't get enough light on the bird--try moving the flashes closer. Don't worry to much about the birds---they get use to the equipment---I often have birds landing on my flashes or camera even when I am shooting.


Hope this helps----keep shooting and lets bounce some "lessons learned" from each other. I am still trying to get flowers in my shots, but those that I attach to my feeders always seem to wilt before I get "the shot"---so, I keep trying. If you figure out the secret, please let me know.


Thanks and great post,


Bob.

Bob, thanks for the kind words and helpful hints. I agree with everything you suggested. I very much enjoy the technical challenge of getting a great hummingbird shot.


The throat (gorget) is a challenge for sure....I find if I lower one of the flashes off to the side about 45 degrees and angle it upwards toward the birds it seems to help.


For flowers you probably need live plants and then "seed" one blossom with sugar water to get them coming to your spot. I haven't done that yet but have read about it.


For backgrounds I am just using the trees in the distance (50 feet or so) behind my house but I know many people use large prints that are out of focus or blurred, then you need some way to position them and hold them in place, maybe an old tripod and some clamps.


Sharpness....I use AF, central sensor only, I try to prefocus where I expect to get the shot. In post I use Topaz Denoise and Topaz In Focus they are awesome. When resizing for the web I use the bicubic sharpening option and set the resolution to 300 then resize to 800 pixels wide.


Here's spme from this morning...


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/1602.343V4886.jpg[/img]


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files/15/5531.343V4874.jpg[/img]