Young Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird (juv), Nogales, AZ

Multi-flash hummingbird photos have a reputation for looking unnatural. Some folks say it’s simply a characteristic inherent in flash-as-main light shots, when in reality proper placement and control of lighting ratios allows photographers to produce very natural looking results using artificial lighting.

Here the background started as one solid color and the fall-off effect was done by placing the flashes low and aiming them upward. I metered the background in several different areas until I had the variation that I wanted (and in the right spot) which was about 2-3 stops of fall-off at the top surrounding the curve of the flower. I was also careful to meter it to render the tone I wanted – not too dark as is often the case in these setups due to improper metering or strobe placement.

The 4 lights for the bird were set up in such a way that I was able to create a fairly hard shadow on the breast and a hair-light was used behind and above the bird and flower for some added highlights. Some of this detail is lost in this composition at web size since the bird is so small to the viewer.

All this was in attempt to create less of the flat look you typically get from these set-ups.

Comments and brutal critiques welcomed.

EOS 1D MKII, EF 300/2.8 IS, 1.4TC, 1/250 @ f22, ISO 250, 6 Vivitar 283 flashes hard wired. Plant is a Red Yucca.