Enjoy, and have a Cool Yule….

P.S. The overwintering hummer population is about 50 birds – 144 oz of sugar water every other day…..unfortunately the birds look a little ragged over the winter – not particularly photogenic!

If I say so myself, I am pretty good at photographing hummingbirds. I would even go so far as to say I am better than most. Not all, for sure, but most? Probably. Been doing it a long time, and made lots of mistakes on the way. Sometimes I even learned from those mistakes. Sadly not always, but sometimes. Fortunately, my students glean the benefits of that ‘experience’ and can short-cut their way to great images quickly. But I digress – the point of this preamble is to establish that my success as a hummingbird photographer has relied a lot on my being there - focusing, moving the camera, and firing the shutter at just the right time. That of course is what sorts the men out from the boys – the ‘fresh air’ shots (frames where the bird has long since departed), the shots with no head, no tail, no wingtips. I have taken thousands of those, but fewer and fewer the more practice I have. My students tend to ‘get in the zone’ far quicker than I ever did, but I don’t let on….

Well, I have done a lot of remote photography of other birds in the past, very successfully. Orioles landing, finches at a nest, tufted titmice at a birdbox, nesting chickadees in a decaying tree.  [See some examples below - click on an image to enlarge]

But I never tried it with hummingbirds…..

Until now. I procured a Cognisys Inc. StopShot – a remote triggering system that is second to none on the market today. This unit controls your camera and flash automatically, firing the shutter and flash if an ‘event’ occurs. That event can be a noise being made (like a champagne cork), a vibration (such as a bird landing on a feeder) or a beam being broken (as a bird flies through an invisible beam on its way to a feeder). Or, you can cross two laser beams, such that if a bird flies across this intersection then and only then will the camera fire. If you prefocus on the location of that beam intersection, then when something breaks it – Bingo! it takes its own photograph.

Well, the results are astonishing. Yes, there are many of the fresh air, wingtip, butt shots, but a high ratio of keepers too. And you don’t have to be there!!!!

Female Anna's and Rufous or Allen's Hummingbirds sparring - taken with Cognisys Inc. StopShot Crossbeam laser trigger and Fotronix StopLight SL-80 flash © Roy Dunn 2010

Female Anna's Hummingbird in interesting pose - taken with Cognisys Inc. StopShot Crossbeam laser trigger and Fotronix StopLight SL-80 flash © Roy Dunn 2010

Female Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird - taken with Cognisys Inc. StopShot Crossbeam laser trigger and Fotronix StopLight SL-80 flash © Roy Dunn 2010

The StopShot is available at www.cognisys-inc.com – it comes with many sensor options, can control valves for the ever-expanding field of droplet photography and is far and away the best remote system I have used. And for the record, I have used many systems, including: Mazof VisII*, Dalebeam*, Shutterbeam by Woods Electronics, WaveSensor (Wave Sensor?) by LPA Designs*, Trailmaster, Time Machine and several designs of my own through the years. I haven’t ever used a Kapture Group system, but they are so insanely expensive for their very limited capability that ain’t never gonna happen anyway. I haven’t used Bill Forbes’ PhotoTrap in earnest either, but I know Bill, and have played with it a little. I have a couple of colleagues who use it often though. It is a good system, but nowhere near as flexible as the StopShot.  (* means no longer available)

Plus, the folks at Cognisys are just really, really nice people to deal with. So much so, that I will be going into business with them to develop a next generation high speed flash system. Yes people, you heard it here first. There will be some new high speed flash units available some time in 2011, and they are going to be perfect for shooting hummingbirds. You thought the Fotronix StopLight SL-80 units were good? (I did – I produced them) These will blow the SL-80′s out of the water. We will probably show them first at the NANPA Summit in Texas in March 2011, but you will get updates here first as things develop. Oh, and I guess the www.cognisys-inc.com website will probably be a good place to check too.

So if you are in the market for a brilliant remote control system for all types of photographic applications, make your way to Cognisys to pick up a StopShot. They are fantastic. If you mention my name when ordering, who knows? You might even get a discount….

As an aside, those who know me also know my main photographic passion is bugs, particularly spiders. Well the Cognisys folks have something for that too – the StackShot. Automatic focus stacking implementation for essentially infinite depth of field of macro subjects. Incredible, awesome, scarily easy to drive, and produces just amazing results.

If you think I am excited by all this, you don’t even know half of it

“Photography using remote triggering devices is fun and simple!”

Ever wondered……

1)      How natural history photographers capture those eye-level close up images of nocturnal mammals in the forest at night?

2)      How those cool images of popping balloons, champagne corks, water splashes are made?

3)      What is needed to get some of those ‘bird flying into or from its nesting cavity in a tree trunk’ shots?

4)      Just what do you have to do to capture an image of an insect flying?

5)      Who is standing on the top of the backboard when you see some of those stunning basketball shots from above the ring?

6)      Do you actually have to wait for hours at an animal’s burrow to grab a shot of it as it emerges?

7)      Just what is coming through that small hole in the fence at night?

8)      How a hang glider pilot gets to take images of himself and the ground below while flying?

9)      If it is possible to get truly candid shots at parties and social gatherings?

If so, then this workshop is for you. There are many, many remote triggering systems for cameras and flashes out there that cover all of the applications mentioned above, and many more.  This workshop will describe and demonstrate their use, and just how easy it is to set up to capture some phenomenal shots. Many photographers think that high speed photography and remote trigger photography are one and the same thing. While it is true that high speed photography often employs some form of remote triggering system, it is not always the case. My Hummingbird Photography Workshops are an excellent case in point where there is no remote triggering at all.  Similarly, remotely triggered cameras do not dictate the use of high speed flash, or even any flash. Adding remote triggering to your arsenal of photographic techniques can let you develop a whole new realm of differentiated photography.

And it ain’t expensive!!!!

I will be demonstrating some very cool technologies that are available for well under $50 that will give you a completely new degree of freedom with your shooting.  Of course, me being me, I will also take it to the other extreme and demonstrate some state-of-the-art gear and techniques.

This session should be at least as much fun as my previous high speed flash session, and open up new opportunities for you to explore. Bring a camera and lens – you will get the opportunity to partake of some fun stuff! I will also provide a handout (or web page) that will list a ton of references – images, techniques, gear, so you won’t have to take any notes.

Seasoned veteran, professional or total beginner – I simply don’t care. I promise you will learn things, and have some fun in the process. As I say during my Hummingbird Workshops – I am here to teach you, not to test you, so don’t feel you need any level of photographic skill to attend this session. If you know which way to point a camera to take a shot, you’re in. If you want to discuss optimum modulation frequencies of narrow IR beam transceivers for retroreflective applications, I can offer you something too.

You need to be a member of the TO Photo Group – www.topcc.org/photo to attend this workshop – for everyone else – sorry!!

More information will become available through the website above, and Photo Group emails.

I love this stuff…

Roy.

Most folks are surprised to learn that I use just about anything to support my flashes - whatever is on hand, and whatever does the job. While it might be important to use the best camera gear and lenses that you can afford to maximize image quality and perhaps indulge in a high-end tripod and head for ultra stability, supporting flashes can and should be done in the most convenient, cost-effective manner possible.

Think about it – when a flash goes off, it is a split-second event – the slowest flash duration is probably 1/1000th of a second, so even if the flash stand is shaking, you aren’t going to see any blur as a result. So flash supports don’t necessarily need to be anywhere near as sturdy as a camera support.

There is an adage – a photographer can never have enough clamps and supports. So, so true for a wildlife, flash and/or studio photographer. They make great birthday and Christmas presents, and provide great flexibility as to where you can mount your remote flashes.

So, what do I use? Well, it depends on the setup, where I am, and what needs to be supported. If I am using remote hot-shoe flashes, or even hammerhead flashes (such as Metz 45 or 60CT series, or Sunpak 544, 555, 622 series), I am liberty to exploit many lightweight and cheap solutions. If I am using studio flashes and/or big, heavy monolights, the options are fewer, but can still be very cheap. I have listed an array of gear that I use below, but not in any order of preference or priority:

1) Duct or gaffer tape. If you are one of those photographers who likes to keep his gear pristine, then duct tape probably isn’t a good thing for you. If however you are a wildlife photographer who regards your photo gear as working tools rather than icons of worship, then duct tape will hold your flash to a tree branch, a rock, a sign, gatepost or whatever. Oh yes, it can leave sticky gobs of yuk on your flash when you remove it, but you will cover it all up again with the next setup. And it holds rock solid when applied correctly, even in the rain. A roll of duct tape is a whole lot smaller and lighter than a bunch of dedicated flash supports…. Resale value of your flash will be reduced, but I don’t tend to resell my flashes – I stockpile them. Flashes are flashes, and I use nearly all of them in manual mode, so they are kept and used (and abused) until they fail. It should be noted that I have only ever had 3 commercial flash units fail – 2 x Canon 580EX’s and a Sunpak 555. The latter just had a tube wear out, and Sunpak replaced it, reconditioned the entire unit and returned it in a very timely manner for minimal cost. I haven’t bothered to approach Canon…..

Duct, Camo and Gaffer Tape. I also use red gaffer tape. Makes a mess, but worth its weight in gold. You are not a serious wildlife photographer if this stuff is absent from your camera bag.....© Roy Dunn 2010

2) Ultra-cheap, flimsy tripods. You know, the ones that sometimes come for free with a camera kit, or a camcorder. They don’t last forever, but then they usually cost less than $20 too. Many is the time I have been to the tropics with several of these, and having served their purpose, I have either trashed them or donated them to locals. The beauty is that they have some form of tripod head, enabling rotational adjustment of the flash (pitch, yaw and roll for the aviation-minded folk), as well as adjustable height. They are always light, and usually small. Most don’t reach heights of more than 4 feet, so if you need more, duct-tape it to something else….

3) Broom handles or 1.5″ dowel with 1/4-20 tripod thread. I have probably produced over a hundred of these in the last 30 years. So simple, so cheap, and so effective. Cut the dowel (or an old broom handle is perfect) into various lengths – from 10 inches to 5 or 6 feet. Whittle, carve or turn one end of the dowel into a point or blade, so it can be easily stuck into the ground. At the other end, drill a 1/4″ hole, and insert a length of 1/4-20 threaded stud into it, leaving about 3/8″ protruding. You now have a supremely portable, light and cheap flash stand. Jam it into the ground either vertically or at whatever angle is suitable, screw on the remote flash (or flash shoe) and voilà – you are set. An alternative is to attach a small ballhead (See further below) for extended flexibility. Can be made up for a trip, and left onsite to minimize weight on the way back home. Biodegradable, too…..

Home made, ultra cheap flash stands. Dowel, or broom handles. These can be made to any length - tapered at one end to form a stake for poking in the ground. The three shown here are not ground stakes, but tree stakes. I drill 1" holes into the side of a tree or post at an angle, and insert these with a flash on the other end. Brilliant, light and simple. Perfect for nocturnal mammal photography. © Roy Dunn 2010

4) Cheap studio lightstands. These can be found just about anywhere, usually for $30 to $50 each. They are telescopic, light, and have 3 foldable legs that spread out. Used mainly in the studio, however can be used outside on reasonably flat surfaces. They will get dirty and grubby, which can be an issue if you are subsequently bringing them into the studio (or house!). Typically, they have a studio flash mounting stud, with either a 1/4-20 thread or 3/8 (Euro) thread. This gives the added flexibility of mounting a studio flash as well as hotshoe or hammerhead flashes. The three spread legs at the base are a magnet for clumsy photographers to trip over.

As cheap and as light as they come. These lightstands are available everywhere and are suitable for many applications. This one has an extra tilting clamp on top. © Roy Dunn 2010

The perfect background lightstand. Column is detachable and telescopic (into 2 sections only) and the legs fold into a single convenient length. It is by Photoflex. © Roy Dunn 2010

5) Expensive studio lightstands. These are much more heavy-duty, and can take a lot more weight. More importantly, they can take a lot more punishment. They are usually a lot larger/taller than the cheap stands, so can reach greater heights for overhead flash. As a result of all this, they are also less portable and convenient. Heavier lightstands also enable the use of boom arms  - these give you overhead horizontal positioning flexibility.

C Stand (Matthews) These are the mainstay of the studio photographer (and cinematographer). Solid, heavy, adaptable, reliable, expensive. Also useful for changing out the engine of your car... © Roy Dunn 2010..

6) Camera tripods. No reason not to use them if you have them! Fully adjustable, they can be placed on rough terrain and offer total positioning flexibility. Of course a tripod has 3 legs which can (and do) get in the way – either in the frame of view, or just being a nuisance when wandering around a setup. Yes, I have broken flashes as a result of tripping on a tripod leg. If you haven’t had this misfortune, it is very likely that you will sometime. I really like my Benbo and Uniloc tripods for both camera and flash support. Their strange design lends itself beautifully to creating a boom arm to support flashes across the top of a set. There are some Manfrotto tripods that have a similar scheme – the vertical column can be positioned horizontally. But I wouldn’t go out purchasing expensive tripods just to hold flash heads…..

I love Benbo and Uniloc tripods. Their unique design permit the central column to go horizontal. This Benbo Mk2 can elevate to over 6 feet high, and has been dragged through swamps and jungles. Solid as a rock. Notice the attached G Clamp on the left end of the column and the Magic Arm on the leg...© Roy Dunn 2010

7) Bogen or Manfrotto Magic Arms. These are great. Simply great. They are a little expensive (and a tad heavy), but can support a lot of weight and are supremely flexible in terms of positioning. There are two flavors of Magic Arm – a lever controlled version and a friction knob controlled version. I definitely prefer the latter. The Magic Arm is a pair of articulated arms that have ball/stud joints at either end. They are remarkably adaptable and easy to use. You can attach a Super Clamp at one end, and a camera platform, hotshoe mount, or whatever you like at the other end. The Super Clamp will attach the Arm to just about anything, but for  me it is usually a branch, post, tripod leg, lightstand upright or boom arm. The lever action version has the entire arm totally loose and flexible until the lever is ‘locked’, whereupon the arm is held rigid in whatever position it was at the time of locking. The Friction version  is proportionally stiffer or looser, dependent upon the rotation of the friction locking knob. The lever style is much quicker to assemble and dismantle, however you need to be supporting the entire flash and arm when unlocking, else it will just collapse in a big heap. (Yep, been there and done that…). I prefer to have the control knob – albeit somewhat bulkier.

The wonderful Bogen or Manfrotto Magic Arm. Here it is attached to a tripod leg via a SuperClamp, and has a camera platform at the other. This is the friction version of the arm, which I definitely prefer. © Roy Dunn 2010

Another Bogen or Manfrotto Magic Arm, this time attached to a C Stand. © Roy Dunn 2010

8) Clamps, ballheads, hotshoes, coldshoes….Well here, anything goes. I have a large tub full of extraneous bits and pieces collected over the years, from mini tripods to mini ballheads and various clamps. Then there are the hotshoes, coldshoes and hotshoe adapters. It would be so nice if every flash could be triggered in the same fashion, but alas, they cannot. Nor can they all be mounted in the same fashion. Some have tripod thread inserts, some do not. Some only have hotshoes. This poses problems when you are using different types of flash, so I have lots and lots of bits and pieces. Super clamps, spring clamps, Justin clamps, Plamps (though these are not flash supports – more for foliage and small gobos), Ultrapods, mini tripods of various types.

Ultrapods are very flexible. Velcro wraps around branches and tripod legs nicely, or you can use the inherent folding tripod. The articulated ballheads, though small, are remarkably strong. © Roy Dunn 2010

I am pretty serious when I say you can never have enough clamps.... © Roy Dunn 2010

Custom adapted spring clamp with small ballhead attached. Remarkably simple - remarkably flexible. © Roy Dunn 2010

Another type of table top tripod - collapsible legs and extendable column, with small ballhead. Suitable, in fact great, for small flashes. © Roy Dunn 2010

A sample of my small ballhead and tripod head collection (flash only) © Roy Dunn 2010

Goosenecks with 1/4-20 threads at each end - very useful indeed. © Roy Dunn 2010

These are unsung heroes - I have two of them. They can even hold heavy cameras, and are SO easy to use. Plus, they even have quick release plates. © Roy Dunn 2010

The Wimberly Plamp. Useful for holding small gobos, scrims and foliage in 'just the right place' © Roy Dunn 2010

Like a Wimberly Plamp, but slightly stronger and stiffer. I have 4 of these. © Roy Dunn 2010

This is great. It has been everywhere with me, supporting cameras, flashes, even remote beam triggers. Solid and reliable. Cullman. © Roy Dunn 2010

Commercial (Cullmann) version of my dowel stake. Nice, but pricey. © Roy Dunn 2010

Suction clamp by Cullmann. Only used once, but it worked where nothing else would. © Roy Dunn 2010

Bogen table tripod. Not sure of model number but really, really solid. Excellent. © Roy Dunn 2010

NOT good for camera support, but fine for flash. These old portable telescopic tripods used to be very popular - they are compact and can stretch to about 4 ft. But they are flimsy and shaky! © Roy Dunn 2010

One of the many, many types of small table top tripods. Perfect for holding flashes, not cameras! © Roy Dunn 2010

A small Bogen tripod and ballhead supporting a Fotronix StopLight SL-80 High Speed Flash. These little tripods are the best of the breed, and can hold incredible weight for their size. © Roy Dunn 2010

Very lightweight version of a plamp that I made myself with KwikTwist ties. Very useful, light and compact. Very lightweight version of a plamp that I made myself with KwikTwist ties. Very useful, light and compact. © Roy Dunn 2010

Incredibly useful, with integral ballhead. © Roy Dunn 2010

These are really nice. Fold flat, and are very strong. © Roy Dunn 2010

Both custom and commercial plates permit multiple flash attachments via a 1/4-20 thread © Roy Dunn 2010

I also have many, many types of flash, many types of associated chargers, and auxiliary batteries, and corresponding connecting cables. I use Quantum batteries a lot, but will save the flash and battery discussions for other posts. Then of course, comes the discussion of slave flash triggers. Oh, and then remote camera triggers. And I have some pretty strong opinions about tripods too. And flash brackets. Whatever you do, don’t get me started about macro gear…..

You might want to subscribe to my blog if any of this is interesting to you – click on the subscribe button somewhere on this page. In this way, you will get an email every time I update the blog. Much easier than clicking a bookmark every day in hope….

It gives me a lot of opportunity to observe them, photograph and film them, though the latter two activities don’t happen anywhere near enough. Students are surprised just how many hummingbirds grace them with their presence during the workshop shoot, and many is the time when a student has expressed that they had prior concern about how many chances they would get to push the shutter button!

I shot some high speed video this evening, just before dark. This is when the birds are at their most cooperative toward each other, as they are filling up the tank for a long night of torpor. As such, it is very important that they maximize their food intake and minimize energy spent on fighting. Doesn’t completely stop them though, as this video shows…..Watch what happens about 45 seconds in, and then right near the end. The 2.5 minute video only represents about 10 seconds or so of real time. The quality of the video is not high, due to the failing light (and incompetent cameraman), but you get an idea of the population density and their aerobatic antics.

Enjoy!

No matter how good your autofocus is, it much prefers to latch onto a flower or a leaf rather than a bird that is flying at more than 10 feet per second. Plus, creating quality lighting in amongst all those plants without casting shadows is really, really tough. That being said, with a lot of care and the application of techniques we have learned we can pull off some pretty sensational images – sharply focused hummers, with wings frozen, nicely exposed with very high quality and flattering lighting.

All of my students now have the knowledge to create similar images to those below – I get a big thrill teaching them how to do it..

Click on the thumbnails for a larger (but still low resolution) image

Anyway, we were out shooting together a week or so back at one of Paul’s favorite haunts, and he showed me a really interesting situation where a few hummingbirds arrive near a small fountain. They hover near the apex of the water flow, and dive in, both head first and feet first to drink and bathe. It is absolutely fascinating to watch. We have spent a few days developing techniques of how we might capture some high speed flash images of the birds, and while we have achieved some nice images, we haven’t yet achieved outstanding images. (Well, Paul has but he wants to do even better – he is a real photographer). When we get some, I will post them on the blog, and I am sure he will post them on his website. Meantime, I shot some high speed video of one of the birds, so you can see what I am talking about. You will see some flashes going off during the footage too – guess who?!!

Happily, she has let me share a few of them on this blog, so take a look and see what you think…… You will notice the delightful artistry applied to them – well beyond the ham-fisted Photoshop butchery that I tend to produce….

Anna's Hummingbird female hovering - © Connie Wade 2010

Female Rufous/Allens Hummingbird in Flight - © Connie Wade 2010

Hummingbird in Flight - Digital Art - © Connie Wade 2010

I wish I had more creative flair though. To the folks (and I say this at all of my workshops) who can go up to a simple door, take a shot, and make that image compelling – I tip my hat to you in complete envy. When I try, all I tend to achieve is a picture of a door, that nobody would ever look at twice. So, I tend to concentrate on my strengths and create images of interesting things that most photographers might find challenging – high speed flash images being a great example, nocturnal mammal photography being another.

When I am teaching my hummingbird photography workshops I share a lot of technical insight, natural history, and enthusiasm for what I do. I love to see the students take what they have learned in the preliminary tutorial and put it to excellent use on the various setups that I provide. Some of the images that students have produced during the workshop are at the very least equivalent to my own best work. The real reward is when the students go away and apply what they have learned to their creativity, and come up with new ideas of the their own. This might be creating their own setups with totally different aspects, playing with lighting parameters, positions etc.

Or, it might be to do what Don Williamson did and take some of the images he made during the workshop and work them into something beautiful. Don and his wife Cheryl recently celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary!! Congratulations to the pair of them! Cheryl had actually gifted the hummingbird workshop session to Don for his birthday, and with the anniversary coming up, Don figured out a way to return the kindness. Cheryl happens to love both hummingbirds and orchids, so Don went to work to create a lovely collage, including hummers that he extracted from his workshop images, along with some lovely orchid imagery. The orchid is an Oncidium Twinkle. He crafted a beautiful anniversary card with the collage to give to Cheryl and she was so thrilled she emailed me a copy of it.

Creativity at its finest (the original high res image is truly exquisite), and I was genuinely heartened to be a small part of the process. What goes around, comes around, as they say.

Don and Cheryl Williamsons' 45th Anniversary Card - Rufous/Allens, Black Chinned and Anna's Hummingbirds amongst Oncidium Twinkle Orchids. © Don Williamson 2010

He showed me how he exchanges the AF-ON button function with the larger  ’ *  ’  button on the back of his EOS cameras. The * button is the middle of the three, and significantly larger than the other two. In this way, your thumb can very easily find the focus button, rather than having to reach that extra half inch or so. I have now found out that most sports shooters perform this custom setting - very easy to do – just read the relevant part of the manual! Having used this method myself for well over a year now, it has improved my ‘hit rate’ of action shots significantly, and I wouldn’t think of returning to the standard focusing method.

Try it out, bearing in mind that it does take some getting used to, and see what you think. I bet you will be both surprised and impressed.