Hummer photography techniques

Hi everyone,

I have been playing around with the different hummingbird setups with multi flash including using soft boxes and using high speed sync. 

Now that we have cameras that can shoot at 1/8000th yet only need 1/4000th to stop most of the action, I am wondering about using the constant led lights used for video. Has anyone here played around with video and ambient lighting to lighten up the subject and background, and shot the hummers at 1/4000th without flash?

Cheers,
Iain

1/8000 sec cannot freeze the moving wings of hummers. Been there done that...under bright sunlight.

1/8000 does freeze most species of hummers in the Neotropics. Coronets, Sabrewings, Incas and Brilliants all fly slower than that. The small Emeralds, Woodtstars and Racquet-tails are still too fast.

LED lights will not be bright enough to give you high shutter speeds for that you need flash.

Just grab a Minolta 9 film camera with 1/12000 shutter speed.

Mike in O wrote:Just grab a Minolta 9 film camera with 1/12000 shutter speed.

You still need very bright light for that I suppose or you have to push the ISO very high (assuming you don't have lenses with aperture of f 0.9 or larger)

DChan wrote: You still need very bright light for that I suppose or you have to push the ISO very high (assuming you don't have lenses with aperture of f 0.9 or larger)

Have you ever run the numbers for Sunny 16 to see just how much aperture you can use with your cameras in Sunny conditions? I have since I like shooting portraits wide open with fast lenses.

With ISO 800, 1/800 @ F16, 1/1600 @ F11, 1/3200 @ F8, 1/6400 @ F5.6, 1/8000 @ F5.0, 1/12800 @ F4.

With ISO 400, 1/800 @ F11, 1/1600 @ F8, 1/3200 @ F5.6, 1/6400 @ F4.0, 1/8000 @ F3.5, 1/12800 @ F2.0.

With ISO 200, 1/800 @ F8, 1/1600 @ F5.6, 1/3200 @ F4.0, 1/6400 @ F2.8, 1/8000 @ F2.5, 1/12800 @ F2.0.

With ISO 100, 1/400 @ F8, 1/800 @ F5.6, 1/1600 @ F4.0, 1/3200 @ F2.8, 1/6400 @ F2.0, 1/8000 @ F1.8

With ISO 64, 1/250 @ F8, 1/500 @ F5.6, 1/1000 @ F4.0, 1/2000 @ F2.8, 1/4000 @ F2.0, 1/8000 @ F1.4

If the setup is in the sun, you only need ISO 500 to shoot at 1/8000 wide open on an F4.0 lens. The hard part would be getting critical focus on the head. Even harder if you are using an F2.8 or F2.0 lens.

If you're not in the sun, things get a lot harder and the ISO will go up quite a bit.

Anthony Medici wrote:

DChan wrote: You still need very bright light for that I suppose or you have to push the ISO very high (assuming you don't have lenses with aperture of f 0.9 or larger)

Have you ever run the numbers for Sunny 16 to see just how much aperture you can use with your cameras in Sunny conditions? I have since I like shooting portraits wide open with fast lenses.

With ISO 800, 1/800 @ F16, 1/1600 @ F11, 1/3200 @ F8, 1/6400 @ F5.6, 1/8000 @ F5.0, 1/12800 @ F4.

With ISO 400, 1/800 @ F11, 1/1600 @ F8, 1/3200 @ F5.6, 1/6400 @ F4.0, 1/8000 @ F3.5, 1/12800 @ F2.0.

With ISO 200, 1/800 @ F8, 1/1600 @ F5.6, 1/3200 @ F4.0, 1/6400 @ F2.8, 1/8000 @ F2.5, 1/12800 @ F2.0.

With ISO 100, 1/400 @ F8, 1/800 @ F5.6, 1/1600 @ F4.0, 1/3200 @ F2.8, 1/6400 @ F2.0, 1/8000 @ F1.8

With ISO 64, 1/250 @ F8, 1/500 @ F5.6, 1/1000 @ F4.0, 1/2000 @ F2.8, 1/4000 @ F2.0, 1/8000 @ F1.4

If the setup is in the sun, you only need ISO 500 to shoot at 1/8000 wide open on an F4.0 lens. The hard part would be getting critical focus on the head. Even harder if you are using an F2.8 or F2.0 lens.

If you're not in the sun, things get a lot harder and the ISO will go up quite a bit.

I have shot hummers using 1/8000 sec, bright sunlight of course, no flash. I also have shot a hovering hummer using manual focus, hand-held.

I don't mind pushing up ISO. Many here don't seem to like it pass 400. So, it was just my friendly reminder to some who are thinking of shooting at 1/12000sec. Not to mention Mike was talking about a film camera.

I have used parabolic reflectors to direct sunlight to a position near the feeders, which worked well for getting extra light on the subject, but they required adjusting frequently. This is the reason I am thinking about the LED light for an extra bit of oomph.

We too have been playing with the various hummingbird set ups.  It is sort of addictive!

So far I have only gotten blurred wings with video.  I have hummingbird videos from way back in 1982 when I got a Sony Betamax camera.

For still photography, I was able to recently assemble several stop wing hummie set ups.  By stop wing, I mean the wings are always stopped, even when I am getting the birds mid flap where their wings are moving super fast..  Before I did get some sharp wings even at 1/500th but only if the bird was at the top of the flap arc so effectively for a nano second the wing was stopped.  I guess I just got lucky once in a while.  But mostly I got blur wings, even at 1/8000th sec.  Annoying as hell.  The inexpensive flash set up solved all that.

 I bought the Art Morris ebook on the subject, and it is great, plus the adventure has become much more affordable with the advent of Amazon shopping.

I bought three Yongnuon flashes off Amazon, about $70 each, a $20 backdrop easel, and light stands that are $25 for two.  I run the flashes at 1/32 power in manual mode, so the burst creates an effective 1/20,000th sec flash pulse.  I put two flashes on the front of the feeder, and one on the background which is a big print of an out of focus greenery scene.  For the triggers I use the cheapo $40 for a big set of Cowboy Studio triggers.

Setting it up was fun but we got bored with it real fast so it is under the bed collecting dust.  They key is to go places where they have those epic looking hummies, like Panama Lodge.  So far we've just shot in the yard.

I am with Steve. I bought 4 of the $60 Yongnuo 560 flashes and Cowboy Studio triggers and receivers from Amazon and some cheap, lightweight tripods to use as light stands. I probably have less than $350 invested. I am very satisfied. I have used the setup in my yard for Ruby-throated and Buff-bellied, in AZ for several species, and during a trip to Costa Rica. Use them just like Steve described above - manual generally at 1/32 power, ISO about 400, 1/200 sec shutter speed, f stop at f22 plus or minus. I have used lenses from 300 to 500 mm. I like the 300 handheld best.

Once I got a few good shots I was addicted.

Yes, what Bruce said.  I forgot to list the camera settings we played with for comparison.  They are nearly identical:  1/250th sec, ISO 400, F 22 in manual exposure mode.  Now I know some will freak out that the F is too small and diffraction will happen, but I used my 800mm lens, so I didn't see any degradation.  I did open the F to 16 and dropped the ISO to 200.

Other tips are use the wide setting on the flash zoom for the backdrop, and slightly tighter zoom for the front.  Keep the flashes real close to the feeder as the pulse is weak and won't travel far.  Be sure to keep all the flashes at the same setting on power, 1/32.  The pulse is minute so you can use high speed drive at ten frames per second and get many pulses before the batteries need a moment to recycle.

In photoshop it is handy to use the select lasso to grab the feeder.  Then hit content aware fill and adios feeder.  Also, be sure to disable auto sleep on flashes or while you are waiting for a bird, the flashes will conk out.

It seems counter intuitive that only 1/250th sec will stop the bird, but it is not the shutter speed, it is the light pulse which is lit only 1/20,000th sec.  That also brings up another issue, you do best to shoot in shade so you are not fighting with ambient.  When the flashes do not fire, your images should be black on the test.