P3D High Speed 3D - Hummingbirds etc.

["Franklin J. Flocks" <fjf@xxxxxxxxxx>]

            Re: Keith Wolfson's question on photographing Hummingbirds:

            I have shot high speed 3D shots of Water and Air Balloons 
       Bursting, Milk Drop Splashes, and light bulb smashes using a 
       variety of Cameras. I used a sound trigger to fire a flash - 
       with the camera set for a time exposure in the dark. (I was 
       lucky enough to be able to borrow two Macro cameras for some 
       of the more close up shots.) - I've never taken pictures of 
       hummingbirds, because I haven't been able to attract them, but 
       I suggest the following:

            - Paul Milligan does great work, but for a first try 
       consider using a Stereo Realist on a tripod with a cable 
       release. - A Realist can focus down to about 2 and 1/2 feet - 
       But I would suggest keeping the camera at about 3 feet from 
       where you expect the hummingbird to hover. Once you are 
       successful in getting sharp shots with a Realist, you could 
       consider trying to put together some kind of a Macro set up.

            - Eliminate any distracting backgrounds, and plan to 
       mount your shots in Close Up mounts - Like those made by RBT. 

            - Use one or more Vivitar 283 or 285 flashes. - If you 
       use a second flash, you can trigger it with a cheap slave 
       sensor. - There will be no noticeable lag time between the two 
       flashes.  Initially I would suggest using a 200 Speed Film, 
       such as Ektachrome E200. - This will allow you to set the 
       flash in an automatic mode and get proper exposure with an F 
       stop of 22 (which will give you needed depth of field.)   
       However, at 1/125 at F22 - a lot of your exposure would come 
       from ambient light, if your hummingbird feeder is in bright 
       sunlight - so it would be important to have it mounted in the 
       shade - or to shoot at dusk.  - If you prefer, you could use a 
       1/100 speed film, but you will be limited to an F stop no 
       smaller than 16, if you use the Vivitar 283 in the automatic 
       mode. 

            - Remember that the less light the flashes put out, the 
       shorter the flash duration. If you cut the power by half, the
       flash duration will be shortened by roughly half. At full 
       power, the flash duration of a Vivitar 283 is about 1/700 of a 
       second.  At 1/16 power it is somewhere between 1/5,000 and 
       1/16,000 of a second.  - If you use more than one flash, the 
       automatic sensors will work to together, to reduce the light 
       output and  flash duration of each flash- while keeping the 
       total exposure the same as if you had used a single flash. - 
       If you are serious about this kind of photography, consider 
       getting the optional manual module for the Vivitar 283, which 
       would allow  you to set the power output to a fixed fraction 
       of maximum output - down to as little as 1/64 power. (I am not 
       sure, but I think the standard sensor module on the Vivitar 
       285 allows the flash output to be manually set to 1/2, 1/4, 
       1/8 or 1/16 power.) If you use several flashes, and manual 
       modules, you should also be able to reduce the speed of your 
       film, which would reduce the effect of ambient light.   














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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3359
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