Hummingbird "prop blur" with strobe and low ish shutter.

A little bit of a happy accident. Last August I forgot to pack an HSS capable trigger for an AD360. So I played around with max shutter speed of 1/250 on these hummers and like the"prop blur" effect.

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p598377313/​e819d0553

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p598377313/​e819d05b1

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p598377313/​e819d0558

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p598377313/​e819d05a2

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p598377313/​e819d0559

Definitely works for me. I like a little blur around the tips of wings on larger birds as well.

There are those who like blur, those who like frozen wings. Me, I like Hummingbirds. Don't think you can go wrong either way. Super nice shots, Jake.

Thanks guys,...

I've got an issue I can't seem to sort out.

Do these images look even remotely decent/sharp to you?

These are output from C1, as 1000 pixel sized jpeg, with C! applies sharpening.
On my monitor they look fine, not super, but for no Photoshop work, just fine.

However when ever I see them after uploading, they look very soft. (exception, the first image actually looks right, but all the same settings are used for all of them)

Given the small jpeg size,. I have Zenfolio set to allow the display of the "original image" so I should be able to see exactly what I uploaded, but they never seem to come out right? Side by side the difference in quite noticeable.

I do not seem to have the same issue when I am uploading a jpeg made from a tiff/psd in Photoshop.

Any ideas?

They do look a bit soft here to me...... can you tell me what C1 is?

Capture One.

Very slightly soft, I attributed it to the shutterspeed.

I agree, very soft except for the first. If you want to catch "prop blur", your ss should be much lower, no flash is needed. 1/50 should be the fastest speed, 1/10 will give you about 5 wing sweeps. at that speed though, (1/10) a keeper shot is takes some luck. These look to me like the Hummer was moving, flash or not, you have to catch them hovering, when only the wings are moving. This happens most always when they have just taken a drink from the feeder. They will almost always back away from the feeder straight back about 6". If they are using the same port or if you have blocked off all the ports except for the one you want them to use they will either back straight back about 6" or fly off. Then you get to wait until they come back and try again. Shooting like this will give you very good detail. I would think a flash would give you less wing sweep, having said that, I really have very little experience with a flash, so I may be wrong about the flash part.

I googled this and found this
http://www.sojournsinn​ature.com …photography/#.X​lT-6mj7SUk

Looks interesting, what do people think?