Trying B&W

I took this little bird with my 90D and the 100-400 lens at 400mm F/18 ISO 320 1/250 with a flash which was diffused. I was not crazy on the background color and there was not a lot of color on the bird. So I tried a BW to get some feed back. Was the color ok, what things should I consider with BW

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Totally agree with the black and white, and well done. The colors don’t contribute anything, and even detract from it. You have a lot of variation in the black to white and nice detail. You might be able to easily remove the branches from the background, but not sure it matters.

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Hi Dean:

Well, I can’t say that I’m a fan of the B/W version. I think the biggest issue was the flash. As you know from my hummingbird posts, I’m a big fan of flash for many forms of photography, but it has to be used well to make it addition, rather than a negative. This looks like on camera flash. Even with a diffuser, it still provided harsh lighting and rather flat lighting on the hummer. The direction of the shadows is a pretty clear indication of the on camera flash. A soft box on the flash, even one that is only 6-8" would provide a totally different character of light.

For the B/W, it accentuated the limb being the hummers head and the below the bird. If you want to work those and at least darken them it might help. You’re still going to have a harsh light look no matter the treatment, b/w or color.

Thanks Keith. This was before I changed my flash system a bit. This had a small soft box on it but I think it is too small. I have a larger one now that hits a second diffuser which is working pretty good for insects. I was not happy with the amount of light on this one so I considered it a loss. But they color was weak here, maybe the flash was the cause, so I tried the BW. This was handheld so that is why I used the flash in the first place, but the high ISO has not been a issue when light is low. I am trying to learn how to use flash photography in other settings more with online classes I have found. Its a different world when using a flash. Thanks for the feedback

Of the two, I prefer the B&W. The details on the bird look good, but IMO, the bird is too tight in the frame. The frame is also pretty busy. I’d wait for the bird the to land on a perch without so many limbs in the background. Looking forward to more.

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