About the Image(s)

We’ve all seen hundreds of humming bird images, especially high key with white backgrounds which are great for kitchen and bathroom walls, and while I’ve never found them particularly interesting, I’ve always wondered how they were shot and had to try it myself. My first few attempts were a bust when I tried stopping the action with shutter speed and learned that 1/8000th second won’t do it. But a friend told me about a ‘how to’ workshop where the organizer arraanged for a location with high hummingbird population, and supplied the bird feeders and extra flashes since I only own four and needed to borrow a couple. He did a quick tutorial and charged $250 and gave each of us a couple of hours to do whatever wanted - I chose to use an area where I saw a lot of bees because frankly, I find hummingbird shots boring and thought the bees added a lot to the scene. There were 4 other photographers there and everyone did their own thing although we swapped backgrounds with each other (I liked my own best) I tried using the natural background but the dark green forest just did not work, the image needed a lighter backdrop lighted with a flash.

This was a bit tricky and here's how I did it.

Canon R5 ??“ Canon 100-500 at 270mm ??“ Tripod ??“ six (6) linked flashes ??“ hummingbird feeder
1. Camera on a tripod - settings ISO 500 ??“ f22 ??“ 1/160th second
2. Hummingbird feeder just out of the frame
3. Flower bought at a local grocery store on a table 8 feet in front of the camera and about a foot from the feeder (goal to attract hummingbirds and bees to the feeder)
4. I then used an eyedropper to place a few drops of sugar water between the petals of the flower hoping the hummingbirds and the bees would stop and feed from the flower before they got to the feeder ??“ they did :-)
5. I brought several cardboard backdrops and played with them until I found the right mix of color and reflectiveness (is that a word?) and place my favorite 8 feet behind the table.
6. I used my Pocket Wizard to link six flashes set at 1/32nd power, (note 1/32nd power has a during of 1/20,000th second) ??“ that’s how I froze the action of the hummingbird and the bees
7. Three flashes between the camera and the flower facing the flower to light the “target area” above the flower; one flash behind the flower but facing towards the flower to backlight the “target area” above the flower. Two flashes about 12” either side of the backdrop to light the backdrop. Note, once I had my settings, if the background was too dark instead of changing settings, I would move the flashes closer to the backdrop; if too bright, I would move the flashes a couple of inches further from the backdrop
8. I Pre-focused on the target area directly above the yellow flower
9. Used a remote trigger and sat and waited, and every time a hummingbird or a bee hovered in the “target area” above the flower, I triggered the flashes
10. I took a couple of thousand shots over a period of about 3 hours and got 8 good shots of a hummingbird (or birds) in the same frame with a bee or bees.

Candidly, I felt like I was shooting deer in a zoo but it was something I just had to try. They don’t hang anywhere in my home, but a different shot took 2nd place in a club competition in the captive and controlled category.