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High-Speed Sync. Flash to stop movement. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter breasons
- Start date
Steve G
RAINBIRDER
Hi,breasons said:
Check out this excellent thread by Chris Fagyal - which should cover exactly what you need to know. Worth looking at some of Chris's excellent images in the Birdforum gallery. Thread:www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=31671 Check out this image: www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/34999/sort/1/cat/all/page/1
Corax67
Well-known member
You will find it difficult to achieve the shots you are looking for, even with a flash as advanced as the 550EX.
Steve's link to the Chris Fagyal thread shows what you need for high quality high-speed flash photgraphy. It is best achieved with multiple flash set-ups & infra-red triggers.
The following link is an excellent tutorial on high speed flash from the Ephotozine web site.
http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=172
Hope this helps.
Steve's link to the Chris Fagyal thread shows what you need for high quality high-speed flash photgraphy. It is best achieved with multiple flash set-ups & infra-red triggers.
The following link is an excellent tutorial on high speed flash from the Ephotozine web site.
http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=172
Hope this helps.
elbokonon
Member
breasons said:
i ran into the same challenge recently. while i use nikon gear, the obstacles are the same. you can read here the input i received from nikonians (nikon user site), click here for one user's example of tricking camera for high-speed flash, and click here for my latest results not using high-speed flash trick.
bottom line: if you are seeking the doc edgerton effect, then you must rely on the flash burst to freeze the moment; shutters just cannot match that speed. otherwise, you can use the blur for a pleasing artsy-fartsy effect (as i've learned).
more advice for shooting hummers:
1) catching them feeding near feeders/flowers slows them down, and even makes them hover a while so you can shoot. early mornings (sunrise) is a good time.
2) try and position yourself to not show the feeder, or minimize it's presence, in the viewfinder
3) make sure the background is an even color (and distant), to isolate the details of the bird
4) learn species behavior (i've found that rufous are very aggressive and territorial, so will charge gentler broad-tailed hummers) to position yourself
5) practice, practice, practice (most of your shots will be out-of-focus, they just fly too fast!)
6) your shoulders will go numb hand-holding the camera
7) have fun! :hippy:
I just started playing with the high speed flash technique this summer. Its a lot of fun, but you have to be patient with the results (a lot of trial and error).
I use four old Vivitar 285 HV flash units. I plan on at least two more. These units have manually adjustable power control down to 1/16 of full power to yield a duration of somewhere between 1/5000 and 1/10,000 second. There are other flash units that have the ability to manualy cut their power even more, but the ones I have found are much more expensive than the vivitars.
Here are a couple good links explaining the technique.
Hummingbird Photography
Naturescapes
I still have a few bugs to work out, but here a few examples of my latest attempt. Matt
I use four old Vivitar 285 HV flash units. I plan on at least two more. These units have manually adjustable power control down to 1/16 of full power to yield a duration of somewhere between 1/5000 and 1/10,000 second. There are other flash units that have the ability to manualy cut their power even more, but the ones I have found are much more expensive than the vivitars.
Here are a couple good links explaining the technique.
Hummingbird Photography
Naturescapes
I still have a few bugs to work out, but here a few examples of my latest attempt. Matt
Last edited:
compa
Well-known member
Really nice photos! I love the stop action but hate the look of flash photos. Isn't there someway of adjusting white balance and such to get rid of that look? You can see some of my hummer photos at: http://www.jbs-blog.com/galleries/hummers/ - taken in plain old sunlight so there is no stop action :C
