Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Hummingbird approaching coral honeysuckle - I actually moved the bird to be on approach. Five flash set up. Attracted with sugar water.
Canon R7, 400mm f4 DO IS II, 580 EX II speedlites @ 1/8 power, tripod
ISO 400, f20, 1/250s
Your flash setup is looking pretty good, Allen. Maybe shift a light slightly to get a bit more gorget flash.
Thanks Dennis. Regarding the gorget, I was having a lot of difficulty getting a shot with red in the throat at all so I shifted the position of the flower to try to get a different angle of the bird. In my experience, the angle of the bird towards you determines how much red you see. Facing you gives the most red. See this photo below taken last evening as well - finally got one to face more toward me.
That’s pretty much it, Allen. I think it’s a combination of how much they’re facing you and the angle of the light. I was thinking the other day when @Kris_Smith posted one that you could put up a fan from your angle to encourage them to face you since most birds will face the wind when possible.
Oh I am a tad jealous as I sit on the couch, waiting to see if the male is still around. The light is all wrong for a throat flash, but it will change. No flash for me yet, but maybe I’ll get around to teaching myself something. I just can’t seem to dial in the fill part of the flash.
Hey - literally just paused this reply to photograph the female on the flowers. How funny.
Anyway, I don’t know why the flowers are so much brighter than the bird, but I wonder if you reversed that somewhat it would be an improvement. The little fan tail and the spread wings is a fantastic catch. I just can’t seem to get the tail like that!
Oh my goodness…I appreciate the vision, technical skills and patience to get these photos! I particularly appreciate the second shot facing you…it has more dimension somehow. Well done. There are beautiful!
The lighting on the first one is pretty good with shadows present. Light has to bounce off of the gorget at about 45 degrees for it to start showing lots of color. You can us Shadows & Highlights in Photoshop to also brighten the region. Comp, flower, and BG look good too. In the Midwest, it is difficult getting birds at flowers due to the abundance of natural foods and a reduced number of hummingbirds. August and September is the best time for hummingbird photography because flowers are limited and there are lots of first of year birds that readily show up at the baited areas…Jim
