Another Attempt

Gallery: AvianPosted August 19, 20184,045 views8 comments

We are starting to see some shadows and one factor that I overlooked in my first attempts was the use of a flash extender. Totally forgot about this, but it clearly was not needed. This image was taken without any flash extender. I may need to also add a diffuser to lessen the effects of the on camera flash. Unfortunately, I only had 2 attempts last night so I'll give it a go tonight. Manual settings: D500 600 mm f4 + 1.4 TC + 5 flashes set at 1/32 (1/250 sec at f18, Iso 500) Levels, shadows & highlights, Topaz Detail.....................................Jim

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on August 19, 2018 at 1:05 PM

I think this works quite well. Good color and detail. You got some action and a superb wing and body position. Does not look flashed to me. That said, you could probably increase the brightness half a stop on the bird.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on August 19, 2018 at 2:59 PM

Jim:

Yes, looking better. Flash extenders... Absolutely not needed. Diffuser?? If your on camera flash is adding any light, it will not be helpful as it is too head on and flat. If you're using the on camera as a trigger, it may not be contributing at all anyway. Is it in the Nikon commander mode?

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on August 19, 2018 at 3:00 PM

Quite a good shot in my opinion, no experience with flash on birds, so couldn't tell if more would improve it. For me it works as presented. Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on August 19, 2018 at 3:31 PM

This looks very good, Jim. Your camera position worked out perfectly to get it all in such a good plane of focus. From someone who never uses flash, this looks pretty natural and well exposed to me. You don't mention cropping. For me that's always nice to know. My only minor suggestions would be to use a smaller aperture to allow in a bit more variation in the BG, and maybe a little more room all around would work well. Very nice effort.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on August 20, 2018 at 1:23 PM

I can't see any flaws in your technique, Jim. Excellent pose with the wings fully back and very well composed. I take it this is full frame? devil

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 20, 2018 at 3:08 PM

The detail is great, Jim. I think the flash extender would just complicate things since I assume you're not using TTL. It would make whatever flash you put it on overpower everything else.

To my eye, there's still too much separation of the subject from the background, creating a cut and paste look. I think maybe a bit more light on the background would help that. I also think maybe a bit more backlight on the bird and flower would make for more realistic looking light. I admire your patience on this project.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on August 20, 2018 at 9:35 PM

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for the comments. I forgot to list a slight crop for comp which removed some dead flowers on the extreme right and took a little off from the bottom and right to tighten it up. The on camera flash unfortunately cannot be set to commander mode (SB-800) so every other flash was working as an optical slave. All flashes were set at the same power so the lighting is a little flat due to the power of the SB-800. See tonights version for a reduced power setting on the trigger flash.................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on August 21, 2018 at 2:35 AM

Jim, I think this looks pretty well on to me. It doesn't have a flash feel to it and I think the BG looks fine. I agree with other about no flash extender needed for this type of work. If I am even shooting hummers with a single flash (no multi setup), I still never use an extender as I am only looking for a small fill flash. Nice work!

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments