Use of flash? (1 Viewer)

Hi,

Today was the dullest day you can imagine from a light point of view, thick clouds all over.

I setup my gear in my backyard and took a few samples with the FL50R flash and a beam extender. The setup looks very much like the one Carlos uses (see earlier post in this thread).

I used the wireless control (RC), TTL mode.

What do you think?

@ Carlos: do you use the "super-FP" flash mode?

Hi Tord
Ive been birdwatching for over 30 years,Im an artist and a photographer and in my opinion your shots look just like what they are, birds photographed with a flash which renders them flat and less life like and unnatural, the flashlight in the blue tits eye making this even more evident.
Sorry to seem so critical but its the sort of shot i would expect in a cage bird magazine.
Of course such things are subjective and im sure others will find your shots enjoyable.
I wish to critique not criticise

Points taken.

This one is taken with fill-in flash instead of auto-flash, adding a diffuser and with the "blue-eye reduction" on

I think the fill-in light enhances the details in the feathering which would otherwise be rather difficult to render considering the background.

/Tord

I like this shot much better Tord, much more natural, dont think i could say it was taken with a flash if i didnt already know

Tord-I think you asked this question but am not sure whether it was answered. Have you tried shooting with your flash set to FP-manual? This allows the Olympus flashes to synchronize at higher shutter speeds providing a series of mini flash bursts for fill in lighting rather than one intense flash-at least that is how I am interpreting the instruction manual. I was playing with some shots yesterday--a dull sunless day with heavy rain-just shooting out my back deck. The FP-manual mode seemed best and more natural.

I was debating whether to purchase a beam extender to help channel the light. Better Beamer does not make a model that is a direct fit to my Olympus Fl36r. I discovered Harbor Digital, which makes a similar extender, sells the exact adaptor to couple their unit directly onto the Fl36 flash head. Anyone have experience with this?

I have been reading about the various flash modes to understand how they work. As you write, the super-FP mode is recommended when shutter speed is shorter than 1/180s. It emits a burst of flashes, of which some (at least one) will be synched with the shutter. At the expense of flash guide number.

There is a "TTL Auto super FP" and a "Manual super FP" mode. I will try them both to see which one turns out best depending on the subject and situation.

The flash extender I have has ~3mm too large fit than optimal for the FL50R, but that was easily remedied using some straps of self-adhesive velcro. You need to make sure the scope and extender are properly aligned, I have a feeling the beam is quite narrow. The focal length of the Fresnel lens is not specified but the manufacturer states "designed for lenses with focal length of 300mm or more". One way to find out could be to fire the flash against a wall and assess the angle using a lens wide enough. I will let you know the results if you like.

Home-made beam extender

Hi,

I have been experimenting with a cheap Fresnel lens that I sourced from eBay. The Fresnel lens is specified with a focal length of 300mm. I fabricated a lens holder from semi-rigid plastic that I cut to a shape similar to the the Better Beamer for good fit with the FL50R, and corrugated for increased rigidity using a heat gun and metal tube. Some velcro and a strap to secure to the flash head and voila - a flash extender for about 2€ material cost.

Tested today evening in my Backyard, some samples attached. Shot at about 10 meter distance, ISO 200 seemed about right for this distance.

What do you think of the results?

Tord said:

Hi,

I have been experimenting with a cheap Fresnel lens that I sourced from eBay. The Fresnel lens is specified with a focal length of 300mm. I fabricated a lens holder from semi-rigid plastic that I cut to a shape similar to the the Better Beamer for good fit with the FL50R, and corrugated for increased rigidity using a heat gun and metal tube. Some velcro and a strap to secure to the flash head and voila - a flash extender for about 2€ material cost.

Tested today evening in my Backyard, some samples attached. Shot at about 10 meter distance, ISO 200 seemed about right for this distance.

What do you think of the results?

Click to expand...

Nice work for the home made beamer. I just got mine yesterday from B&H in the U.S. and it cost 37$. Big improvement from my old one that dated 10 years - it got a well deserved retirement...

It is hard to evaluate the effect on your photos because they were taken on a cloudy day. The sparkle in the eye is there but I can't see how it smoothens the shadows. A good starting point seems to be at -2/3 EV. Adjust the flash to see the details in the shadows without loosing the shadows. You must be very stable or else you will see a moving white dot in the eye.

Enjoy
Jules

JGobeil said:

Nice work for the home made beamer. I just got mine yesterday from B&H in the U.S. and it cost 37$. Big improvement from my old one that dated 10 years - it got a well deserved retirement...

It is hard to evaluate the effect on your photos because they were taken on a cloudy day. The sparkle in the eye is there but I can't see how it smoothens the shadows. A good starting point seems to be at -2/3 EV. Adjust the flash to see the details in the shadows without loosing the shadows. You must be very stable or else you will see a moving white dot in the eye.

Enjoy
Jules

Click to expand...

Thanks,

I am not sure I fully follow the last paragraph, can you elaborate a bit more?

The pictures are taken in evening, smooth sunlight/slight overcast but with low sun, shadowed by a house the subject (bird and vegetation) is in deep shadow and the light background sky does not make things easier. I think this kind scene would normally be hard to capture and render much details.

I shot in flash RC mode, sync speed as short as possible (1/250 s). I assessed ISO 200 was about right to get a histogram without clipping the highlights while trying to preserve the overall natural illumination (the background sky looks about right to me). Lower ISO would have lead to longer shutter times --> risk of shake blur and/or dark sky. Higher ISO might have improved the details but I did not want the effect of the flash to be prominent. I tested 400 ISO and the histogram was pushed into the overexposure area.

If you look at the picture with the Tit you can notice a shadow impression left by the tail on the tree. That's about how dark the subject would have been without assisted flash.

In theory it should be possible to shoot at 20 meters with ISO 800 (provided the flash extender is properly aligned with the lens). 40 meters would require ISO 3200, maybe feasible with the EM-5?

/Tord

Hi again Tord,

What I mean is that we see no shadows on your photos, It's like they were taken on a dull cloudy day. The only visible effect of the BB is the white dot in the eye. IMO, the most important feature of a BB is to open the shadows so that we both see the shadow and the details inside the shadow. Of course, on a cloudy day, there are no shadows to open...

The best way to achieve that is to use the flash in High Speed Sync Mode. The camera is set to take the picture without flash and the flash is used to supply some additional light that will open the shadows just enough to show the details in the shadow while keeping a nice artistic shadow.

Most people use the BB in High Speed Sync Mode mode in order to keep the shutter speed high to freeze movement and prevent shutter blur. From what you describe, you use the BB to give more range to your flash in regular flash mode - this works but your shutter speed is limited to 1/250 sec.

High Speed Sync Mode requires a lot of flash power because the flash will strobe many flashes to make sure one of the flashes is synchronized with the shutter. I learned this the hard way: when I bought the OM-D, I also bought a FL-600R flash that fits well with the diminutive camera. The flash is fine for family pictures and works well with a BB used in normal flash mode at 1/250 sec. as long as the bird is not too far. However, it is not powerful enough in High Speed mode, having a guide number of only 36. I had to buy a Metz 52-AF1 which has a guide number of 52.

See this for a discussion on the subject:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/fo...-with-a-Better-Beamer?highlight=better+beamer

Regards
Jules