I spent some time with Carl Ackerman (and the NutHouse – click here to find out more) this week recording a mini-course on setting up a backyard bird feeder area (this mini course will also come out along with my official Bird Photography course in September). Carl had an amazing setup in his yard and I learned so much from talking with him.
Anyway, he also has been experimenting with off-camera flash to photograph hummingbirds and I managed to snap a few photos. Off camera flash for this is interesting as it’s really the only way to absolutely freeze the hummingbird wings and get them razor sharp.
Sure, you can freeze the wings at high shutter speeds too, but you often sacrifice a lot on ISO and you don’t get that razor sharp look that you get with off camera flash. For me, I don’t really have a preference – I like both natural light hummingbird photos and flash. I don’t mind a little motion blur in the wings, but at the same time I also love the separation and sharpness you can get with flash. That said, it’s A LOT of work (and costly) to setup off camera flash, so the lazy person in me may prefer the natural light ones ?
Anyway, another hot topic with hummingbirds is wing position. Some like wing position forward and some light wing position back. I like ’em both personally and the overall impact of the photo is more of what I look for. Here are two photos taken relatively close to each other so you can see what I’m referring to.
What Do You Prefer?
So the question is, which one do you like? Remember, regardless of what some one told you at your camera club or you read online, there is no “rule” to this – only preference. So which one do you prefer? (leave an answer in the comments).
Gear, Settings, and Post Processing
I used my Sony Alpha 1 with the 200-600m lens. I had my camera set to AF-S, using the Center Point Focus area. Since I don’t personally use Back Button Focus for birds and wildlife, I simply focussed on the flower and then recomposed. I turned the Auto Focus switch on my lens to Manual so it didn’t refocus when I pressed the shutter.
I was on Manual Exposure mode at f/13, ISO 100, and 1/200th sec. Since I was at f/13, I didn’t worry too much if the bird wasn’t on the exact focal plane as I had focussed the flower. Close enough here would definitely have been close enough since I was stopped down to f/13.
Post processing was done in Lightroom for exposure, cropping, color and toning corrections. Then I jumped to Photoshop to replace the eye. The eye had 3 catchlights in it which is a no-no. Sure you could clone them out easily enough but I had some natural light shots of the same bird so I just replaced it as I liked them better. Then I added some bokeh to the background since Carl had a piece of green paper as the background. Finally, I moved to Topaz Sharpen AI for some a little bit of sharpening even though the photo didn’t need it – it was razor sharp right out of the camera. (more on Topaz here)
As always my editing is covered in my Wildlife Editing Secrets Course. Also, you can find links to all of my gear, computers, hard drives, etc… over on the Gear page which can be clicked on in the top menu (or just click here). And it’s always appreciated if you use the links on that page (even if you’re not purchasing that specific item) when buying anything. It doesn’t cost you a penny and it’ll help me out a bit 🙂
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Both are great shots but agree that you see more correct with the wings back shot.
If you have one more photo, you have a nice series of three to hang on the wall as one composition–say three aligned vertically.
Both are beautiful, but I prefer the first.
I like the first one, both are great but I like bird shots (BIF) showing underside of wing.
I like then both but I prefer the first one.
Ha! You have to join us in Tucson next year…..tons of birds…..several different species!
I prefer the wings be back. That way you can see all of the bird’s body.
I think the wings in back create a sense of anticipation, as it makes the bird appear to be about to feed. Wings in front give it more of a sense of being done and moving backwards. I prefer the first, but it might depend on what you are trying to convey.
I prefer the second one with the wings forward. No real reason. Just more pleasing to my eye. Both images are great captures, though.
I’d agree with picking the second, if the bird was moved back a little bit. The color of the bird is more vivid in the second and I like the wings forward.
I like the 2nd photo a bit better (both are great) because I like how you see so much more of the color on the hummingbird’s back and shoulder. Looking forward to your Bird course.
I definitely like the first photo. Not so much because the wings are forward in the second as the way that the forward wings almost intersect the flowers isn’t as nice a composition
I’m assuming from your settings that without the flash the entire exposure goes to black even with a ton of ambient light and that’s why the wings freeze from the short flash duration despite a 1/200th shutter speed
Hey Brad. I noticed that. Didn’t bother me too much but it’s an easy fix since the photo is cropped and Content Aware Move would take care of moving it away in a heartbeat. I was just lazy and didn’t feel like it since it doesn’t bother me that much. Thanks!
Both are great but I particularly like the way you were able to capture the position of the wings in the first one.