flash for bird photography

i was thinking about getting a flash for my canon xt. would a canon 430ex be good with a flash extender. and would i need one of these flash brackets. or are there other options? most of my shooting is done in the woods and handheld. and i am finding alot of my shots are underexposed due to low light. also the flash extenders how far out are they effective?

What setting you shooting at? You should be able to get proper exposure by bumping up ISO and loweint shutter speed.

Flash extenders like better beamer will help to let you use fill-flash at greater distance. When using it with my 100-400L or 400mm f5.6, I simply used on camera flash 550ex without flash arm. Now when using 500/600mm f4 IS, flash arms are helpful.

bobbyz wrote in post #5866776
What setting you shooting at? You should be able to get proper exposure by bumping up ISO and loweint shutter speed.

Flash extenders like better beamer will help to let you use fill-flash at greater distance. When using it with my 100-400L or 400mm f5.6, I simply used on camera flash 550ex without flash arm. Now when using 500/600mm f4 IS, flash arms are helpful.

ive been shooting early. and in AV mode. but even bumping iso to 1600 im still only getting like 125 speeds wich are to slow for handheld.

A 580EX/580EXII and a Better Beamer FX-3. The flash bracket is useful if you change orientation from portrait to landscape, but not absolutely necessary. If you get a bracket you'll also need an Off-Camera Shoe Cord. A CP-E3/E4 battery pack might also be a good idea.