Couple of American Goldfinches

[Scottes]

Giving the 500mm some more workout today, along with the 1.4 TC and the Better Beamer since the sun was stuck behind some trees.

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Goldfinch_64364.jpg

http://www.itsanadventure.com/postimages/Goldfinch_64399.jpg

[tommykjensen]

Great colors and great bokeh.

What is a "Better beamer"?

[Scottes]

The BB is an attachment to go on a flash. It uses a Fresnel lens to focus the flash to a tighter beam, giving much more distance when using long lenses.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/better_beamer.shtml

It's a very cool attachment for long-distance photos, but I'm really not a lover of the flatness of flash shots so I'd usually try to add a tiny hint of light with it. The trees blocked most of my nice sun, though, so the flash was predominant. I need to convince my neighbor to take down about 6 100-foot pines and a couple of 60-foot maples...

[Blue Deuce]

I take it you shot #2 wide open with such a shallow dof. These are good. Doesn't look like there was any loss with the 1.4x.

Any feedback on the beamer and what settings are you dialing into your flash ? I have not found too many resources on it. Guess I will just have to practice, practice, practice.

[dancinec]

Wonderful Goldfinch shots Scottes, I have tried the better beamer, but I find that it scares the birds too much. I usually put the camera in Tv mode and let it decide on the shutter speed. Is there a better way to do it? The instructions suggest an off-camera bracket for the flash, but it is heavy enough with adding the weight of a bracket.

[reewik]

Very well done for someone new to the lens...

[stoneylonesome]

Holy Cow! those are beautiful. The colors and detail really jump out at you.

[Scottes]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

As to tips for the BB, I really have no idea as this is the first time I've used it. I think the best thing to do is "practice, practice, practice" along with "experiment, experiment, experiment." Although if Liquidstone ever reads this he may have some ideas...

So far flash is really fairly confusing to me. This make using the BB tough when combined with the fact that I don't like that "flat" effect that flash generally has. But I've seen some stuff to convince me that it is certainly useful at time, so I'm going to bang away at it and see what that yields.

[CyberDyneSystems]

They look great Scott!

The key with the beamer used for fill is to keep things toned down.
I usually continue to work in AV mode as I would with no flash,. and have -2/3 or -1 full stop of FEC dialed in with the beemer for starters,. I use the FEC built into the camera most often as I can tweek it faster,. but I've been told a few times that the results are better to dial in your FEC into the flash unit.. ? Don't know why this would make a difference really.

The less you rely on the flash the more you preserve natural lighting. Of course when all is in shadow you have little choice in the matter. Ive seen lot of shots in nature magazines where the conditions are after nightfall,. or the shots are taken under the dense cover of a rainforest (essentially it's perpetually night down there) where you have no choice but to use the flash as a main light,. and done well this can still look quite good.

Scott,. in these shots with the dark background near black,. (more so in the second) this looks to be the case,. the flash has by necesesity become the main light near as I can tell.

What exposure mode and exif resulted?

[Gary Fairhead]

Beautiful shots with great backgrounds. I have to get a BB as I am hearing about and seeing a lot of positive results. Nice!

[Scottes]

What exposure mode and exif resulted?
A/Vmode - f/6.3, 1/250th, ISO 400 for the first and f/5.6, 1/250th, ISO 200 for the second. I believe that I had FEC -2/3 so I guess I should have gone lower.

The background now is a problem since the trees in the back yard are leafless and dark, and the grass is more brown than anything. In the summer the leaves will reflect more light, as will the green grass. This will make for much brighter backgrounds.

I will probably move the feeder over so that my neighbor's house will be in the background. It's a bright cream-white house that catches a lot of sunlight, so the bg will be much brighter and the flash will become fill-flash rather than primary lighting like it is here.


What I really like is that I can stay inside the porch will a lens this long, so I have a huge, huge blind...I also have a second 550EX now (my wife's) so I can set up a master-slave and place the primary outside at an angle to the bird. That should reduce the "flatness" since the primary flash will hit the birds at a 30- to 45-degree angle to the bird.

[cfcRebel]

Those are excellent captures. Razor sharp and vivid colors.

[Raj]

WOW, so sharp, detailed, well exposed & saturated.
These are just WOW images !

[Airedale1]

Beautiful captures. I really love the second one.

[abigailandsam]

Those are really crisp shots. I prefer number 2, but they're both excellent. You're really getting the hang of that lens!

[ssim]

Great stuff Scott. Makes me want to go out and start chasing some birds.

[dazzlebea]

Beautiful captures! As if he had been sitting right in front of you, the colors are so vivid and every detail shows. How far away were you actually from the bird?

[Scottes]

Thanks folks!


Sheld - what kinda birds are you think about? <smack>

Bea, I was slightly more than 4.5 meters away, so about 15 feet. I was just at the lens's minimum focus distance. I did have some extension tubes ready just in case I was too close.

[IanD]

How come all the birds are on Scotts side?:):)
These are really great for first attempts with a BB Scott. I'm still trying to get half arse image with it. Guess my brain is still semi permafrost.:)

[liquidstone]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

As to tips for the BB, I really have no idea as this is the first time I've used it. I think the best thing to do is "practice, practice, practice" along with "experiment, experiment, experiment." Although if Liquidstone ever reads this he may have some ideas...

So far flash is really fairly confusing to me. This make using the BB tough when combined with the fact that I don't like that "flat" effect that flash generally has. But I've seen some stuff to convince me that it is certainly useful at time, so I'm going to bang away at it and see what that yields.

Nice captures, Scottes!

I never learned to use fill-in flash well at birds, as I always get that "steel eye" look. But I agree with CDS, I get better results too when ambient light has more participation (expose for ambient light as near as possible, plus fill in flash at -2/3 to minus 1-2/3 FEC to minimize shadows and if you're lucky, get a catch light rather than a steel-eye).

A couple of tips for the BB:

1. When birding on the move, I often take "aim verification" shots with the BB now and then to make sure that the flash/BB is pointed right. Too easy to dislodge the non-rigid attachment of the BB to the flash head.

2. When the flash supplies the main light, it's not necessary to use very fast shutter speeds and go into FP/HSS mode, even when shooting hand held. This will greatly reduce the power of the flash + BB. It is enough to keep the shutter speed at about x-sync (or slightly slower) because the brief burst of light can act as a fast shutter, freezing subject and/or camera motion.

Romy

[Mitcon]

Knock-out shots Scottes, man that stands out. Fantastic stuff

[Scottes]

Thanks for the tips Romy! I've got to get the BB "locked down" better because I agree, it does get out of alignment easily.

[Maureen Souza]

Nice, Scott. The colors are amazing & they look very sharp on my screen.

It sure has taken me a while to get caught up in this darn bird forum;) ;) ;) You birders are such a fanatical bunch......;) ;) :D :D :D :D

[T.D.]

Great shots, Scottes!

Thanks for sharing about the Better Beamer. I am really intrigued. I may have to check this out in more detail (can you say, BH, here I come?!)

Thanks for sharing!

[Dimitri_V]

wow,what a lens scottes,what a lens,perfect captures,(and the photographer ofcours).

[mrclark321]

Great shots, thats one nice combo you have. :)

Dan

[superdiver]

Just DANG!

[Scottes]

Thanks for the comments folks!

These two shots were from my day shooting birds after 6 months hiatus. I felt very rusty from lack of practice. I can't wait until I'm back in form again - and I *really* can't wait for these guys to get their full spring colors back.