Flashing!

[Expo67]

Hello. I've been shooting birds in flight for the past few months under daylight conditions. I am now wanting to do the same but with a flash under less favourable lighting.

Have you used a flash for flying birds? If so, what are some of the basic setting you would use for this purpose? If it's not too much trouble could you please illustrate a couple shots where a flash was used.

Thanks.

[Expo67]

Okay, who out there has tried using the flash for moving birds but it failed miserably?

So what do you think? Would I be wasting my time?

[CDMOOSE]

I often use a flash and Better Beamer for staionary shots, but my sense is one would not have the reach to illuminate most birds in flight.
Al

[Expo67]

Originally Posted by CDMOOSE

I often use a flash and Better Beamer for staionary shots, but my sense is one would not have the reach to illuminate most birds in flight.
Al

Thanks for your reply. I'm the midst of making a Better Beamer. I know that they are reasonably priced but I want to see if I can come up with one. I have the lens but I haven't figured out what housing material to use. On top of everything else, they are not sold in Canada!

One quick question if I may? What is the length on the Beamer (front to back)?

[Kevin Hall]

I am in the process of designing and building a flash for what you are asking about. I hope to be ready with a prototype in November for testing. I will not say more until then. The issue is that even with a better beamer you need more reach.

A beamer places a fresnel lens about 6 inches in front of the lens of the flash.

[Expo67]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hall

I am in the process of designing and building a flash for what you are asking about. I hope to be ready with a prototype in November for testing. I will not say more until then. The issue is that even with a better beamer you need more reach.

A beamer places a fresnel lens about 6 inches in front of the lens of the flash.

Thanks Kevin and good luck with your design. Question! Would 9 inches give a greater reach? Who says size doesn't matter? B^)

[Kevin Hall]

For reaching out and touching someone look at what Dave Black did here.

This could work for birds in flight with a good, high ISO camera - but that's a lot of speedlights. I'm taking an approach that will offer plenty of power for about a quarter of the money.

As for distance from the fresnel to the flash here is a good discussion at photo.net from 1997. Read what Bob Atkins had to say and then find your own optimum distance.

[CDMOOSE]

Originally Posted by Expo67

Thanks for your reply. I'm the midst of making a Better Beamer. I know that they are reasonably priced but I want to see if I can come up with one. I have the lens but I haven't figured out what housing material to use. On top of everything else, they are not sold in Canada!

One quick question if I may? What is the length on the Beamer (front to back)?

Look at the Free Textbook for Beginners sticky at the top of this forum. It's a great resource and the author has made a larger Beamer using foam core. It, of course, would be very light weight but at some point I'd hate to get caught in a cross wind with it.
Al

[Jerry Green]

Do a search on Arthur Morris and Better Beamer for some info and tips. I have just started to try to capture more little birds in flight with the Better Beamer. I have been successful with Hummingbirds which are predictable. I shoot them when they back away from the feeder or when they are hovering at a flower. Other little birds are hard to get in focus. Getting the flash lined up with where the lens is pointing is critical. You are dealing with a spot of light. I do an alignment against a large flat surface.



For this Nuthatch photo I prefocused on where I thought it would be as it approached the feeder. I call this a partial success.

[teekay]

Nice shots, Jerry! Maybe you or someone could solve what seems to my main problem shooting birds with a flash. I've got to be missing something simple here!

I've got a feeder in an ideal place where I can shoot from a comfy chair about 5' away and have got some good shots in natural light. But most of the day the feeder is in the shade with a very bright sky behind so I've been trying the onboard flash.

Since I have to use a shutter speed of 1/250 or slower to use the flash, the bird motion is still blurring the shot. I've tried manually setting gross underexposure for the natural light (e.g. f/22 at ISO 100) and although this does darken the background some, I still get blurred birds.

I rarely need flash for anything else so am not about to get a more elaborate setup.

[Jerry Green]

The Nuthatch was about 15 feet away outside my open kitchen window. I have a low tripod sitting on the counter top. I used a Nikon D3S in manual mode at f/9, 1/200 sec, ISO 1000, Nikon SB900 flash at 1/32 power and a Better Beamer. I had the flash lying along the barrel a Nikon 200-400 mm lens attached to a home made flash bracket attached to a Wimberly gimbal head. Very low profile. The bird was in the shade. I prefocused in manual mode where I expected the bird to be by standing up a piece of cane at that point behind the feeder and focusing on it. I made a photo of the cane with the flash to set up the camera. The birds land on a tree near by and then fly to the feeder so I had a good idea where one would be. Keep the focus in manual mode so the AF will not find something else to focus on. I used a wired remote to trip the shutter so I could watch the bird fly in. After that it is up to me to trip the shutter at the right time. I need more practice. For the humming birds I like to use two flashes with Better Beamers off camera for separation to avoid the reflection off the eyes. I point both of them just in front of the feeder. More hummingbird photos @ http://gofish.smugmug.com/Nature/Hum...3431&k=sWwftzB

For a simple set up use the on camera flash at 1/32 power. I made this photo with a Nikon D5100 with a Nikon 85mm macro, on camera flash at 1/32 power, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/200 sec. I mounted the camera on a tripod about three feet from the feeder and used a Nikon IR remote to fire the shutter. Note I used to be a Canon shooter and have now moved to the dark side. I still follow POTN for the great information shared here.

[teekay]

Originally Posted by Jerry Green

.... I made this photo with a Nikon D5100 with a Nikon 85mm macro, on camera flash at 1/32 power, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/200 sec.....

OK, good tip re reducing flash output, but referring to your last shot above, I would have expected far more blur from the wings and even body of the bird considering the exposure is a slow 1/200. I mean, even if the flash freezes an instant into the image, the overall exposure is still 1/200 - no?

[stoshdwalshphotography]

As above, I have used this with hummingbirds, but I'd have a hard time thinking it would be very effective with other BIFs unless you are talking about fairly large (and therefore slower) birds.

I generally do all of my settings first and manually adjust the flash output, basing decisions on the histogram and the background I want, then wait until the birds show up.

One example:

[Kevin Hall]

Hummingbird photography is a different animal than the original question, even though they are birds in flight. More like shooting helicopters than airplanes.

For stop action with hummingbirds you are not relying on the shutter speed of the camera to capture the wings but the duration of the flash output instead. Reducing the power of the flash output shortens the flash duration which gives you an illumination time fast enough to stop the action - sometimes in the neighborhood of 1/10,000th.

What you lose is illuminating light, especially ambient in the background. This is why you see the multiple flash setups for hummingbirds. Lights to illuminate the hummingbird, stop the action, different angles to bring out the colors due to the structural pigmentation of the feathers. Lights on the background so that it doesn't look as if it were taken at night.

Hope that helps.

[Jerry Green]

Originally Posted by teekay

OK, good tip re reducing flash output, but referring to your last shot above, I would have expected far more blur from the wings and even body of the bird considering the exposure is a slow 1/200. I mean, even if the flash freezes an instant into the image, the overall exposure is still 1/200 - no?

Yes it is still 1/200 sec. and as mentioned above, more flashes help.