Three Nikon SB-800 flash units froze the wings of this male rufous hummingbird. The bird was enticed to a sugar-water feeder hanging under a dark tent at the Bull River Guest Ranch located in Cranbrook, British Columbia. The camera shutter speed had nothing to do with stopping the wings’ movement. Instead, the flashes were manually set to 1/16 power, which generates a flash duration around 1/10,000 of a second. Since no ambient light was bright enough to appear in the image, the flash duration acts as the shutter speed. Nikon D300, Nikon 200–400mm lens at 320mm, ISO 200, f/18, 1/200 second, Flash WB.
The Power of Flash
Cameras come equipped ...
Get Digital Nature Photography, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
