Most of my wildlife photography up until now was done using a Nikon D500 and a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens. Although they are far from being a perfect pair, I was able to work around most of the quirks of this camera and lens combo to great effect. But every now and then I would lose focus just a tad bit during that critical moment, something that infuriates every photographer, no matter what genre they are into. Also, I was not able to print my work any larger than 13x19 (yes I want to print BIG) with a reasonable dpi that adheres to the standards that I have set for myself.
Yesterday evening, all that changed! The love of my life, my dearest wife Mary Dee surprised me with a Nikon D850 that has a 45.7 Megapixel full frame sensor and comes equipped with state of the art autofocus technology! Here are the first couple of shots from it, paired with an SB 910 flash unit. I used the sun as a rim light and the flash for fill light.
For this portrait of a Rufous Hummingbird, I used a very slow shutter speed of 1/25th of a second and a very tiny aperture of f/29 and paired it with the flash set at full power. I have been wanting to capture a portrait of a Hummingbird, using slow shutter speed technique and rear sync flash for a while now. I wanted to get the body and head still while the wings blend into a symphony of blur. Got to execute it this weekend and i am quite happy with the way this turned out! I didn't think that I would ever use a shutter speed of 1/25 sec on a hummingbird! The result was definitely pleasing artistically, to my eyes atleast!
Camera : Nikon D850 | Lens : Sigma 150-600 c | Focal Length : 600 mm | Exposure : 1/25 sec | Aperture : f/29 | ISO : 500 | Flash Make : SB 910 AF Speedlight | Flash mode : Manual | Flash Power : 1/1
For this shot the flash really helped with bringing out the various tones on the feathers of this young Rufous male. The result seemed more documentary than artistic; I would have liked to have had a bit more shadow to suit my taste honestly.
Camera : Nikon D850 | Lens : Sigma 150-600 c | Focal Length : 600 mm | Exposure : 1/2000 sec | Aperture : f/6.3 | ISO : 500 | Flash Make : SB 910 AF Speedlight | Flash mode : Manual | Flash Power : 1/16
These last two shots were shot with the SB910 flash at full power, again beamed through a snoot so that it traveled all the way to 600mm. Really enjoyed the way the iridescence on the feathers shows off from the direct light off the flash.
Camera : Nikon D850 | Lens : Sigma 150-600 c | Focal Length : 600 mm | Exposure : 1/2000 sec | Aperture : f/6.3 | ISO : 500 | Flash Make : SB 910 AF Speedlight | Flash mode : Manual | Flash Power : 1/1
Camera : Nikon D850 | Lens : Sigma 150-600 c | Focal Length : 600 mm | Exposure : 1/2000 sec | Aperture : f/6.3 | ISO : 500 | Flash Make : SB 910 AF Speedlight | Flash mode : Manual | Flash Power : 1/1
So far, the D850, paired with my Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens is giving me way more shots in focus, than the same lens with the D500. Once I get a bit more experience using this setup, I hope to make a blog post comparing my experiences with both these bodies.
Hope you all have a great week ahead!
Special thanks goes to my buddy Kelly Young for showing me her private hummingbird paradise nestled deep in the Pacific Northwest!