How can I freeze hummingbird wings with a Nikon D5300?
Asked 10/3/2020
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2 answers
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I’m new to a Nikon D5300 and have lots of hummingbirds in my backyard. I can photograph them, but the wings are always blurred. What settings or setup will help me get much sharper hummingbird photos, especially to freeze the wings?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
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One of our local photography club members specializes in Hummmingbird shots. I'll explain his approach as best I can.
First and foremost, he achieves gorgous stop-action of the wings with partial power electronic flash, not with camera shutter speed.
He has an array of flashes and cameras setup around his feeder. Sometimes he triggers them remotely himself, and sometimes he uses auto-triggers based upon the hummingbirds flying through a trigger laser detector.
Another thing he does is he has his own pre-printed "Boca" backgrounds. He has large(ish) blurry scenery and floral prints set on stands to act as a backdrop for photos of the birds.
Good luck!
Originally by user77199. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user77199
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Hummingbird wings move extremely fast, so blur is expected unless you use a very fast exposure or a flash-based setup.
Two practical approaches:
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Use very fast shutter speeds Aim for around 1/2000 sec or faster to freeze wing motion. That usually means shooting in strong light and/or raising ISO.
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Freeze motion with flash The sharpest stop-action hummingbird shots are often made with electronic flash, not shutter speed alone. Flash duration at lower power settings can be short enough to freeze the wings. For this to work best, the flash should provide most or all of the light, which often requires multiple flashes placed fairly close to the feeder or flight path.
A compromise is fill flash: use flash to help sharpen the wing position while still using ambient light.
Many photographers also pre-focus on a feeder or known perch and wait for the bird to enter that spot. If you want the classic ultra-sharp wing look, a controlled feeder setup with off-camera flashes is the most reliable method.
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