Hummingbird Flight
Hummingbird take Flight
I have wanted to create a portrait of a hummingbird mid-flight for some time now. But the difficulties finding a location with enough birds to build a controlled environment around proved difficult.
After getting wind of the flock in Paris, TX, I made a road trip, determined to capture a picture of this speedy bird.
Upon arrival, there were no birds to be seen. Despite that, we built a mobile studio and waited for the air to cool and the bird's hunger to drive them us. Before I knew it, I had dozens of hummingbirds in front of my camera lens.
To freeze the unreal speed of their wings, I used strobes (flashes) with a flash duration of 1/18000th of a second and a shutter speed on my camera of 1/8000th of a second, as well. I utilized my Nikon Z9 with a monstrous 300mm lens attached and photographed the birds over the course of an hour. In addition to freezing the detail of the wings, I also wanted as deep of focus as possible so I shot at an aperture of F16, which allowed for a massive depth of field.
Out of all the shots, this portrait of a bird, compositionally, struck a chord with me. The angulation of his beak, wings, and body felt perfect and true to the hovering and ascending nature of a hummingbird. And the light softly shaping the birds on both edges was perfect.
Shortly after the shoot, I did some basic retouching and tested large format printed proofs to ensure extreme detail held up, and indeed it did. A 40x40 print shows this hummingbird 20x larger than life.
From start to finish, this process illustrates the challenging nature of capturing these creatures in such a clean aesthetic. But regardless of that, my hope is that the final work is breathtaking and allows you to appreciate the creature in way, otherwise not seen or experienced.
Hummingbird take Flight
I have wanted to create a portrait of a hummingbird mid-flight for some time now. But the difficulties finding a location with enough birds to build a controlled environment around proved difficult.
After getting wind of the flock in Paris, TX, I made a road trip, determined to capture a picture of this speedy bird.
Upon arrival, there were no birds to be seen. Despite that, we built a mobile studio and waited for the air to cool and the bird's hunger to drive them us. Before I knew it, I had dozens of hummingbirds in front of my camera lens.
To freeze the unreal speed of their wings, I used strobes (flashes) with a flash duration of 1/18000th of a second and a shutter speed on my camera of 1/8000th of a second, as well. I utilized my Nikon Z9 with a monstrous 300mm lens attached and photographed the birds over the course of an hour. In addition to freezing the detail of the wings, I also wanted as deep of focus as possible so I shot at an aperture of F16, which allowed for a massive depth of field.
Out of all the shots, this portrait of a bird, compositionally, struck a chord with me. The angulation of his beak, wings, and body felt perfect and true to the hovering and ascending nature of a hummingbird. And the light softly shaping the birds on both edges was perfect.
Shortly after the shoot, I did some basic retouching and tested large format printed proofs to ensure extreme detail held up, and indeed it did. A 40x40 print shows this hummingbird 20x larger than life.
From start to finish, this process illustrates the challenging nature of capturing these creatures in such a clean aesthetic. But regardless of that, my hope is that the final work is breathtaking and allows you to appreciate the creature in way, otherwise not seen or experienced.
Hummingbird take Flight
I have wanted to create a portrait of a hummingbird mid-flight for some time now. But the difficulties finding a location with enough birds to build a controlled environment around proved difficult.
After getting wind of the flock in Paris, TX, I made a road trip, determined to capture a picture of this speedy bird.
Upon arrival, there were no birds to be seen. Despite that, we built a mobile studio and waited for the air to cool and the bird's hunger to drive them us. Before I knew it, I had dozens of hummingbirds in front of my camera lens.
To freeze the unreal speed of their wings, I used strobes (flashes) with a flash duration of 1/18000th of a second and a shutter speed on my camera of 1/8000th of a second, as well. I utilized my Nikon Z9 with a monstrous 300mm lens attached and photographed the birds over the course of an hour. In addition to freezing the detail of the wings, I also wanted as deep of focus as possible so I shot at an aperture of F16, which allowed for a massive depth of field.
Out of all the shots, this portrait of a bird, compositionally, struck a chord with me. The angulation of his beak, wings, and body felt perfect and true to the hovering and ascending nature of a hummingbird. And the light softly shaping the birds on both edges was perfect.
Shortly after the shoot, I did some basic retouching and tested large format printed proofs to ensure extreme detail held up, and indeed it did. A 40x40 print shows this hummingbird 20x larger than life.
From start to finish, this process illustrates the challenging nature of capturing these creatures in such a clean aesthetic. But regardless of that, my hope is that the final work is breathtaking and allows you to appreciate the creature in way, otherwise not seen or experienced.