Room Service

[mjs1973]

I got rained out yesterday, so tried it again this morning. This is the best one I got for today. Not exactly what I want, but I'm going to keep trying. It was very overcast and the lighting was very flat. Not very good conditions to be shooting in, but still worth the practice.

I like the wider perspective, but I think it makes the bird too small in the frame. This was shot at 12mm (19mm equiv). I had my flash mounted below the camera, pointing up at the box, and a little bit out to help light up the underside of the bird. I kind of like the effect, but I'm limited to a max shutter speed of 1/200. Most of the time, this isn't quite fast enough to freeze the wings. When the weather is better (no wind) I want to try to mount a small reflector under the camera to help with some fill.

Anybody have any suggestions? I kind of feel like I'm stuck in a rut and trying to take the same shot over and over again. I also included a photo of my setup so you can see the flash. And yes, I am using a $30 tripod for these.