photographing night birds with flash

[cassowary]

Greetings

Currently I use a 1500 lumen HID flashlight and canon xti and canonf5.6 400mm lens to take pictures of night birds. (I leave the inbuilt flash off). The pictures attached are hand held.

I was hoping to switch to flash but I was worried about the max range. ie: would I be better off using my current system and using a tripod for stationary birds within 2O yards? but this obviously limits my mobility to capture fleeting birds/animals.

PS: I am a fairly novice photographer.

[Overread]

I know flashlights are bright, but the birds tend to get some warning first before they appear (as you sweep the light into the birds eyes). I would be very reluctant to use flash on birds though since its going to not only give them a shock at night, but also destroy their nightvision for a while - during the day flash is not that bad - no worse than a reflection of the sun of water, but at night it has added impact.

[Shifty]

I also would never use a flash to photograph birds in any situation, purely from the effect I think it could have on them.

Also not that keen on using flashlights to look for night wildlife, unless you are using a red filter on them. Makes them no good for photography, but we cannot photograph everything.

[Apodemus]

I also would never use a flash to photograph birds in any situation, purely from the effect I think it could have on them.

Also not that keen on using flashlights to look for night wildlife, unless you are using a red filter on them. Makes them no good for photography, but we cannot photograph everything.


I agree. Taking pictures of night birds with flash doesn't make for great pictures and it is potentially highly disturbing for the birds. There's no need to photograph everything just because it's possible.

[Overread]

shifty = during the day flash should not harm them at all since even in overcast weather its still bright outside - at night though things are different. The birds rely on good nightvision to hunt and survive - getting flashed is going to break that. Short term the bird is now blinded in the night as its eye readjust - a flashlight has the same effect, but the flashlight is slightly different in that instead of a pulse of light it a constant beam - ergo the bird gets a little adaption time before the beam hits it. It still breaks their nightvision though and will most time scare off animals. Its why infra red is so often used for nighttime work - animals don't see it and it does not harm nor spook them.

I think I am right that many badger watchers have used food and spotlights to attract badgers at night into an areas where they can photograph them - in that case whilst nightvision is affected their is food on offer and again its a slower adaptation to a constant light source.

[cassowary]

Thanks all for your replys. Obviously there is a balance. With uncommon or rare birds, in particular, the amount of disturbance has to be limited - in the UK as there are so many birdwatchers looking to twitch or photograph rare birds, this boundary is often overstepped. However if the birds (or animals) fecundity is not being negatively impacted by your actions, I see no reason for a small amount of disturbance.

If you wish to continue to discuss the ethics of photographing night birds/animals (which unfortunately some people do need reminding of) it would probably be better on another thread.

I was hoping to get some technical feedback on the pros/cons of using flash at night notably the canon 580 EXII

[deshojo]

Hi Mike,

One of the problems of using flash as your sole source of light is the unnatural effect you will get in the eyes of the bird - usually the main focus point.
Sometimes referred to as "steel eye", it rarely produces an attractive image, even during the day, let alone at night when the flash is the only light source.

The problem is the direct angle of reflected light, due to on, or near, camera mounting of the flash.
The naturally black pupils in the images you posted would not happen with on-camera flash.

If you were able to set up 2 or 3 side-angled flash units fired by an infra red trigger, focussed on a pre-determined area where the birds were known to pass, then you might produce appealing images. But on-camera flash is rarely good for wildlife.

I have tried using a 580 EX on a 40D/300mm f2.8L IS set-up (with a flash extender), for photographing badgers at night, and although the results were interesting, they were not what I would consider very good images, just record shots really. The eye reflection is just too much to correct in PP.

Last year I photographed some nesting GS Woodpeckers during the day, and had to use flash as the location was so dark, but I wasn't really pleased with the results - they just don't look natural.
Great Spotted Woodpecker (http://www.nature-photos.biz/birdlist/greatspottedwoodpecker/index.htm)

Cheers,
Matt

[cassowary]

Matt,

Greetings,

Thanks for the reply and detailed info.

I was a little bit annoyed at myself recently for taking a number of night birds - handheld (I was being lazy), and of course many turned out to be blurred.

I guess I will continue with my current method - not that I have taken many night photos (it is the cheapest option anyway) but use a tripod.