Lillian Roberts, APSA, GMPSA/B  

Jewel of the Forest by Lillian Roberts, APSA, GMPSA/B

June 2026 - Jewel of the Forest

About the Image(s)

I recently did a 3-day workshop photographing hummingbirds in Green Valley, AZ led by Lisa Langell (recommended). We practiced with 6-flash setups using backdrops of various kinds. For years I have wanted to do wide-angle hummingbirds, and behind the lodge was a cliff and beyond that, a forest. We got lucky with overcast skies a couple of times. So, during "down time" I set up two flashes and my 12-24mm lens right next to a feeder, using the natural forest as a backdrop, and a remote shutter trigger. The yield is pretty low but I feel the result is unique as they are normally shot with a long lens.

Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 20
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 500
Lens: FE 12-24mm F4 G
Focal length: 20mm

Lillian

5 comments posted

Tom Kredo   Tom Kredo
Hi Lillian,
I was thinking of signing up for this workshop for the past 3 years. Do you recommend it? Nice job freezing the wing motion. To me it looks like it was three stops underexposed, and you had to work it to get to this point. The details are muddy and dark. Doesn't seem like competition caliber. But I bet it was a great experience.
  Posted: 06/13/2026 16:28:33
Lillian Roberts   Lillian Roberts
That's a really interesting observation, Tom! It's actually pretty much straight from the camera. The bird was flashed and the BG was underexposed/ dark. It is somewhat cropped. I just took down some highlights and brought up shadows and eliminated an "extra" catch light - probably shouldn't do that, but it bugged me. I've entered it a couple of times, too early to see if it will do anything.

ALso interesting that the metadata indicate flash "off" when there was obviously a trigger on the shoe.

In any case I do recommend the workshop. I don't love the way she does her sign-ups, you basically have to be waiting for it to open and ready to sign up quick and pay. But that's because they all fill quickly - like, in minutes. She's planning a very interesting western movie town/ cowboy workshop this Fall, that I wish I could attend but I'll be in Madagascar. Hoping it will repeat next year.

Lillian   Posted: 06/13/2026 17:59:10
Raj Panandiker   Raj Panandiker
Lillian:

Really cool image. Hard to imagine that you captured it on wide angle. Looks like the bird was a few feet from the camera. In terms of exposure, i think it looks good...i might have exposed the bird by ½ stop more.

Most importantly, very rarely have ai seen the tail feathers open like in your image. Most of the time, I see them closed like in Graham's image.   Posted: 06/15/2026 12:37:34
Lillian Roberts   Lillian Roberts
Thanks, Raj! It was actually a few inches away from the front element. Sometimes I felt they spotted their reflection and it caused them to swerve a bit. The feeder was literally touching the side of my lens hood.

I can work on brightening the bird, thank!

Lillian   Posted: 06/15/2026 17:06:40
Howard Frank
Neat perspective. Everything is nice and sharp. I do feel it a little dark.   Posted: 06/15/2026 16:14:17

 

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