stargazer said:
My biggest problem is shutter speed and flash sync. I can only go to 1/200 on the sync and that isnt enought to freeze the wings, so static shots are all I can hope for so far.
That's why he turned his flashes down to 1/16th to avoid wing ghosting. Flashes regulate power by reducing the time they are on. So if at full power a flash is "on" for 1/100th of a second, it's only on for 1/200th at half power, 1/400th at quarter, and in this case 1/1600th at 1/16th power, Stop down enough to keep most (or all) natural light from exposing the frame, and all you get is light from the flash to expose the birdy, and only for 1/1600 of a second, so even though his shutter speed was 1/100, which is not fast enough to capture the wings,, the lights were only on for 1/1000th or so, freezing the scene.
"full power" at 1/100th is an estimate and changes by flash model, but you get the idea. At flash intensities of 1/128 or so you can freeze VERY fast motion, like the string on a weedeater going full throttle
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii261/mrexplodo/weedeater.jpg
Near as I can figure, the string is traveling about 600 Mph, and the camera is 4 feet away. My shutter speed was 1/250, so it was the flash that froze the motion, not the shutter. Note that this pic was taken in full sun, at F22 or so, but looks like night, because the only light that made it into the exposure was from the strobe.
Ah, fish photo you beat me to it.
