Problem with fill flash for hummingbird photography

[Abinoone]

As many have mentioned, you need to be in full manual mode. I don't use fill flash on hummingbirds, as I find that the loss of shadows looks unnatural to me, and I find that the flash often makes the scintillating feathers too bright. I think the real question is multi-flash vs. natural light. One freezes the wings for sure, the other shows the motion of the wings or can freeze the wings at a high shutter speed.. I personally prefer the latter, but I suggest using whichever you like best. the Allen's hummingbird below was taken in natural light, f/5.6 @ 1/5000 second, ISO 1600. No need for fill flash, IMHO.View attachment 96308

Beautiful image!

 

[BobK]

When photographing hummers, I shoot fully manual.....no auto ISO.

When I shot hummers with flash in 2009 in British Columbia, I used the flash synch speed of 1/250 and f18-20. That is how the pro told me to do it! LOL! All the images in this gallery were shot using flash except the first two images which were shot in natural light. You can click on an image, then click the "i" (information) in the upper left corner to see the capture details.

In 2023 I shot hummers in Costa Rica using flash with two different approaches. Some with very fast shutter speeds - and some with 1/200-250 shutter speeds. You can view the capture data for each image.

HOWEVER, my favorite hummer images were taken in 2018 using NATURAL LIGHT! Capture details are there also.

WOW!!!!! Nice shots! Thanks for all the capture details, we can learn a lot from studying those!

 

[Mal Paso]

As many have mentioned, you need to be in full manual mode. I don't use fill flash on hummingbirds, as I find that the loss of shadows looks unnatural to me, and I find that the flash often makes the scintillating feathers too bright. I think the real question is multi-flash vs. natural light. One freezes the wings for sure, the other shows the motion of the wings or can freeze the wings at a high shutter speed.. I personally prefer the latter, but I suggest using whichever you like best. the Allen's hummingbird below was taken in natural light, f/5.6 @ 1/5000 second, ISO 1600. No need for fill flash, IMHO.

If you lose the shadows then there is too much fill. There should be just enough flash to bring out the shadows/colors.

Reflectors are often overlooked for fill light. I have a 42 inch round Raya reflector/diffuser that folds to 15 inches but it occurred to me that one of those catchlight reflectors sold for portraits might be perfect. Placed under the lens it could be angled for intensity and would provide wrap around light.

 

[DavidT]

no fill flash

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Mark1776]

When photographing hummers, I shoot fully manual.....no auto ISO.

When I shot hummers with flash in 2009 in British Columbia, I used the flash synch speed of 1/250 and f18-20. That is how the pro told me to do it! LOL! All the images in this gallery were shot using flash except the first two images which were shot in natural light. You can click on an image, then click the "i" (information) in the upper left corner to see the capture details.

In 2023 I shot hummers in Costa Rica using flash with two different approaches. Some with very fast shutter speeds - and some with 1/200-250 shutter speeds. You can view the capture data for each image.

HOWEVER, my favorite hummer images were taken in 2018 using NATURAL LIGHT! Capture details are there also.

Awesome!

 

[Flyboy]

The flashes for hummingbirds are usually set up in manual mode for 1/32 or 1/16 power. I had seven. Getting them used from e-bay, KEH over a period of years you don't need the Profoto A10's. (I started with three) They do need to be the same make/model so that the flash duration on any power setting is the same other wise you will most likely will get ghosting. I eventually made some homemade brackets to hold two flashes so that I could use a smaller aperture. To freeze the hummingbird wings I would keep the flash duration between 1/10000, and 1/20000. Its really pretty easy, the big issue for my location is getting subjects.


View attachment 96201

View attachment 96200

Excellent information. Thank you!
One thing to be aware of: Many third-party flashes' duration at full power are only ~1/300 sec., which fits nicely with the maximum Synch speeds of some cameras. (Not AF-P) The duration gets shorter as the power is reduced, but it takes about 1/4 power to begin to match manufacturers' full power flash speed. That's what I have found, comparing my 3rd party flashes with manufacturer's figures. As always, YMMV.