Better Beamer tips for birding?

Finally broke down and bought one. Going to use it for birding and was hoping to get some pointers on the proper way to setup one and use one. if you have links to videos that would be great also.

I have done the search and can not find exactly what I am looking for. Thanks in advance

Exactly what did you buy.

Take some test shots and make sure the beam is hitting your aiming point. My BB tends to sag just a hair and I end up with the area below the bird nicely lit. Test shots will also give you a chance to set your flash to just fill in and not make the flash obvious.

http://www.digitalbird​photography.com/7.9.ht​ml

http://vogelfotografie​n.wordpress.com/flash-photography/

http://www.birdsasart-blog.com …/02/better-beamer-basics/

http://www.surfbirds.c​om …-your-photos-using-flash/

Thank you

Mine shoots a bit high unless I push it down a bit. Not a big problem, though.

Thanks for those links, Keesbeest. I saw some of those photogs had over-the-lens flash brackets and it looked like a better setup than mounting it on the usual flash shoe, so bought a flash bracket and off camera flash cable today. I'm hoping it gives me more options for centering the light.

M_Six wrote in post #16715052
Thanks for those links, Keesbeest. I saw some of those photogs had over-the-lens flash brackets and it looked like a better setup than mounting it on the usual flash shoe, so bought a flash bracket and off camera flash cable today. I'm hoping it gives me more options for centering the light.

Can you adjust pitch with the flash bracket you found? It looks like a great deal in terms of price, but adjusting pitch of the flash and better Beamer is the key. Please let us know.

Here's what I found that I thought could do the job, but it's a lot to stack on the top of that flash bracket.

http://www.amazon.com …&keywords=Flash​+tilt+shoe

I bought a better beamer for a trip to the Amazon in Brazil last summer. I was using a 60D, 100-400L, and speedlite EX600-RT. If you are really far away, I wouldn't bother using high speed sync with the better beamer. I'm not sure if one of the links above is to the article that I saw, but you will basically want to set the flashes zoom to a fixed focal length. I think, IIRC, the best spread is had by setting the zoom to 50mm. I think by setting to 24mm, you get a tighter beam, and by going to 80mm a wider beam. There was an article where the guy tried playing with settings and practicing on a wall to see what effect the settings made.

When you've got everything set right, it works really well.

Be careful, if you are walking around when it's sunny and you have your better beamer mounted, you can destroy your flash or camera gear. The better beamer acts like a magnifying glass and will melt right through the flash or whatever gets in it's way if the sun hits it right. I saw some pics last year of melted flashes, some that still worked but were ugly and some that were completely destroyed.

Yeah. I notice a lot of guys use flash brackets to get things just right. I was hoping to get some info on brackets people are using without creating a new thread. I guess that's what I'll do.