Hummingbirds were everywhere this morning, but not near my setup so I went out to my prairie and brought some prairie dock over to the rig for some botanical photography. The background is artificial and all light was provided with 3 flashes with one lighting up the BG. Some wind was present, but the short burst of flash froze any motion. Oddly enough, a hummingbird checked out the flowers after I set them aside.
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Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Z9 600mm f4 + 4 flashes set at 1/16th power (1/200 sec at F20, ISO 200) Crop and 5 degree rotation for comp, Levels, reduce saturation of blues and yellows, Topaz DeNoise for sharpening.
Another beauty, Jim. Whatever you’re using for a background is working really well, especially for flowers with a lot of detail and structure that could get lost without it. I really like that you are showing us what might be a rarity or a weed - they often look alike. In Wisconsin there is some effort to restore prairie, but it’s mostly corn and cows where it used to be so only small, separate patches have been created. I bet the bees and other pollinators love your prairie set up. Your flash set up is spot on again.
Those hummingbirds better step up because they have some competition! Lovely lighting and detail on a very nice arrangement. The sparseness of the arrangement fits well with the sort of gap-toothed petals. Nice detail in the yellows!
Lovely image! I have tried to make images of these in the wild, it is not easy. At 5’ 4" I am never face to face with these. When I look up they are against the bright sky. Perfect lighting and background.
