Whatbird.com

Photgog:

This shot was taken with a shutter speed of 1/8000 and ISO of 100, F-stop of 3.2...  there is plenty of light here but the wings are not frozen.  Also the strobe is set to "Through the lens metering" 

Fraser

 

OK, information overload....  glad that you are posting in snippets otherwise these topics would become too convoluted.   

What in the picture tells you that the wings are not frozen vs simply out of focus due to f3.2 depth of field?

What does "through the lens metering" mean?  Does the strobe also know what the shutter speed is?

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

Simply ... yes... Through the lens metering means the exposure is controlled automatically.  When there is enough light the strobe stops.  This is good for many shots but is not good for fast moving objects.

The second post using 1/8000 shows either focus problems or motion blur... the wings are slightly more blurred.  The first post using 1/8000 shows the body in fair focus but the wings show much more blur.  Both birds are recoiling from the volume of flash... (In my opinion) and immediately exited without feeding.  Usually with the short strobe duration... the birds are not affected as much and usually do continue feeding.

Fraser

What is telling you it is movement and not depth of field in the first of two shots?

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

Well I can't be sure that depth of field did not contribute to the focus issue.   At least I cannot be sure with only these two pictures. 

The birds were in the range of focus... which was manually set, the target focus was the perch of the feeder.  Usually the birds approach the feeder fairly straight on.  

Both birds show a retreat pattern away from the light source... which has contributed to my observation and partial conclusion that "perhaps" the longer flash pushed the birds away.  I will do this again later but I don't want to stress the birds... if I am correct and the longer flash caused them to flee.

Fraser

what is the fastest flash you can get from your slowest strobe?

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

While at the Camera store last week the photography guy looked up some stuff and said that the flash duration was about 17000ths of a second.  I tried to look this up to confirm but have not found the information yet...   yet...

 

Fraser

So if you go to a very low light condition and with an f-stop that will give you appropriate depth of field and use 1/17000 of a flash the only thing that should be captured is what is illuminated.  I guess my point is that if you are using the strobe to stop the action, the lower the light conditions the crisper the picture.... I think.

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

Interesting you say that... If you review on this thread the dark background capture... there seemed to be a better strobe freezing of the wings than the last shot posted from this morning.  That was not in a totally dark situation but was in lower overall light conditions ... later in the evening.

However you must also realize that the bird's wing actually stops (slows severely) at the top and bottom of the wing beat.  This might not be an actual stop but the wing may "swim and swirl" to achieve the alternate direction.  At any rate the slower wing speed may assist the strobe to freeze the action.  I suspect that for the bird to fly... the wing action is probably more like a swimmer doing the breast stroke.  Already I have captures of severely distorted wing patterns while the bird hovers but I'm not willing to conclude much yet about the flapping patterns of Hummers... assuming that they are the same for several species... perhaps next year.

You say "lower the light conditions the crisper the picture"  I assume that you are talking about ambient light...

Fraser

I am just guessing here based on what you have written so far.  Your comment about the bird reacting to the flash creates the fuzziness tells me that there is too much light after the strobe is finished that is being picked up by the 1/250 shutter speed.  Thus yes, reduce the ambient light and the fuzz should be reduced. (?)  If the strobe is being used to stop the wing then only use what the strobe provides.  Tough to get strong shade on an Arizona patio but you have already pointed out that there is more activity at dusk.   

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

I find it hard to believe that they can react to something as quick as an electronic flash, but I recently got a shot of a chickadee at a feeder that appeared to be doing just that.  In the photo, he had lifted his wings to fly off, but he never actually flew.  I guess he decided to stay once he realized that the flash wasn't a threat.

If they really can react that quickly, have you considered switching to manual flash?  If I'm not mistaken, that would eliminate the monitor pre-flashes that the TTL metering requires, and might buy you a little extra time.  Of course, getting the exposure right may be a challenge, but it might be worth a try.

The birds this morning that I suggest were "pushed" by the flash were shot with TTL metering.  And the light was not an issue because of automatic metering... even at 1/8000 sec shutter speed. 

All other shooting has been done at total manual setup...  strobes at 1/128th power. I just shot about a dozen more tonight and have not processed them yet... but I can see that they are dark and I will have to add light.  I did shoot tonight with the same strobes on lesser power, but the birds dont flee the flash like I observed this morning with TTL metering and low F-stop.   I actually flashed one bird about 5 times and ... no flee.

Fraser

 

 

This evening I took about 30 shots... And I believe all the shots are of the same bird.  As I sit quietly I become aware of small wars going on around me as the "Owner" Anna male attacks and protects his food source.  I do not get the same dominance of the feeder in the morning.  Results are similar as before... 1/250, ISO 100, F13 and three strobes... still the photos are dark and I must add light.   Perhaps next week... MO light.

Here is the dominant beast of the feeder... controlling food from my back yard...

Fraser

After doing some research I now have more information about flash durations... of the Nikon Speedlights.

1/1050 sec.   at M1/1 (full) output
1/1100 sec.   at M1/2 output
1/2700 sec.   at M1/4 output
1/5900 sec.   at M1/8 output
1/10900 sec. at M1/16 output
1/17800 sec. at M1/32 output
1/32300 sec. at M1/64 output
1/41600 sec. at M1/128 output

I previously stated that the speed was 1/17000 of a sec... but I have been shooting at 1/128th output... so it is much faster.

I got the new Speed light today.  I will soon have some new examples.

Fraser

You made a comment about needing more light but I think the bird looks OK, will be interesting to see what the additional light will do.

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Latest Birds: Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Rufous-backed Robin, Crissal Thrasher

The comment on my part (about light) is based on observations of the original photos in RAW format.  This format allows me the opportunity to change the amount of light by changing the exposure.  While handy is the ability to modify exposure after capture... the addition of exposure f-stop, adds noise to the photograph.  In contrast, if the photographer needs to tae away an f-stop, this action does not add noise. 

Noise in a photo is bad and limits the crispness and detail of the photo.  In Hummingbird photography particularly (all photography in general)... detail is the objective... and indeed without it the picture of the bird may be unidentifiable.  

In very recient posts about Black-chinned Hummingbirds... the female is very often so similar to the Anna's female that no identification is possible with certinaty.  Detail in the wing would solve the problem.  However I recognize that this is a specific technique requiring setup and special equipment, and not all birders will try or can try to do this.  But some will want to try this and may already have the equipment but don't know how to start.  Thus the reason for this thread.

Another comment about RAW format shooting.  This format, if it is available on your camera does allow for adjustments after the actual capture.  That is handy but requires that all data from every capture be saved to storage card.  In my case I get only 50 photos on a 1 GB Flashcard.  AND... every ohoto must be processed after capture.  AND after while the storage requirement to save and backup all this data becomes cumbersom.  

The new flash is here but rain has dampened and delayed the new launch...  An unusual situation here in Arizona.

Fraser