Use of flash for nature

[JR1]

I have had a problem lighting under a tree in the back garden, and freezing the little buggers when the flap.

Tried the flash extender and it works great




http://www.naturescapes.net/store/be...ash-extenders/

[Mark von Kanel]

Would you not get better results by mounting the flash on a stand with a softbox closer to the birds and using radio triggers?

[JR1]

Would you not get better results by mounting the flash on a stand with a softbox closer to the birds and using radio triggers?

Perhaps but as I shoot from indoors and it is pouring down, also it can be carried out with you in the field, it is SOOOOOOOOO light being just two pieces of Plastic and a fresnel lens

[Mark von Kanel]

Perhaps but as I shoot from indoors and it is pouring down, also it can be carried out with you in the field, it is SOOOOOOOOO light being just two pieces of Plastic and a fresnel lens

What you dont have waterproof flashes?? some people just dont take their togging seriously

You could always double up your flash umbrella as a rain one

mmmm Devon and rain.... Like scones and cream.... always together

[Saorsa]

The flash extender (mine is the Better Beamer yours looks almost identical) is useful but needs some fine tuning when mounting and does make for a harsh direct light.

If I were shooting around a feeder like that I would consider some low cost slave flashes which will fire as soon as your main flash fires. When you set up to shoot you could seal them in a clear plastic ziplock bags. You can get them for less than $20 each in the US. Even the little popup flash on the camera will trigger them. In fact, it's better to use the on camera flash in manual at low power so that the pre-flashes don't trigger the slaves.

[Mark von Kanel]

The flash extender (mine is the Better Beamer yours looks almost identical) is useful but needs some fine tuning when mounting and does make for a harsh direct light.

If I were shooting around a feeder like that I would consider some low cost slave flashes which will fire as soon as your main flash fires. When you set up to shoot you could seal them in a clear plastic ziplock bags. You can get them for less than $20 each in the US. Even the little popup flash on the camera will trigger them. In fact, it's better to use the on camera flash in manual at low power so that the pre-flashes don't trigger the slaves.

Zip lock bags vs ikelite under water flashes??? you know what? sometimes i over think stuff

[JR1]

The flash extender (mine is the Better Beamer yours looks almost identical) is useful but needs some fine tuning when mounting and does make for a harsh direct light.

If I were shooting around a feeder like that I would consider some low cost slave flashes which will fire as soon as your main flash fires. When you set up to shoot you could seal them in a clear plastic ziplock bags. You can get them for less than $20 each in the US. Even the little popup flash on the camera will trigger them. In fact, it's better to use the on camera flash in manual at low power so that the pre-flashes don't trigger the slaves.

I agree and in fact I have three SB910s and use Pocket wizard flex tt5s on them, but I look at it like this, simple and quick means it gets used

[JR1]

What you dont have waterproof flashes?? some people just dont take their togging seriously

You could always double up your flash umbrella as a rain one

mmmm Devon and rain.... Like scones and cream.... always together

Help me out here, I am looking for the smiley face with the tongue sticking out ok got it

[JR1]

The flash extender (mine is the Better Beamer yours looks almost identical) is useful but needs some fine tuning when mounting and does make for a harsh direct light.

If I were shooting around a feeder like that I would consider some low cost slave flashes which will fire as soon as your main flash fires. When you set up to shoot you could seal them in a clear plastic ziplock bags. You can get them for less than $20 each in the US. Even the little popup flash on the camera will trigger them. In fact, it's better to use the on camera flash in manual at low power so that the pre-flashes don't trigger the slaves.

It is the BB

[Stagecoach]

If you are seriously looking to get good nature image results in this situation whilst shooting from indoors one of the first things to consider is to get your feeder closer so the birds can be shot at a decent size within the frame. Careful positioning could also help with providing a good separated background.

[Mark von Kanel]

Help me out here, I am looking for the smiley face with the tongue sticking out ok got it

No Sympathy Jeremy, i live in Cornwall, just across from Plymouth, Thats why the instead of the face, i have to put up with the rain as well, but i have water proof flashes

[marlunn]

Ha, you guys think you get rain?
Take a trip over the bridge to Wales
Then you will know about rain

[Loose Canon]

I’ve tried the Beamer for outdoor stuff.

I found it very cumbersome in the field and quite fiddley in use. I have used it canoeing as well as hiking and it’s “footprint” on the flash, which is on the camera hot shoe, makes the whole show hard (impossible for me) to move around much with.

It has a good long throw and that is how it is advertised. In fact the Beamer manufacturer actually recommends it to be used with a minimum focal length. I didn’t re-look it up but 300mm comes to mind.

I found the light quality it produces unusable for my taste. It is just too harsh for the quality of light I prefer. And if you shoot it with your subject too close it overpowers the parts of the scene it allows the light to hit. Again, that is its design. I have used it manually and ETTL. I think the Fresnel lens needs some getting used to in order to get the adjustments to get a good balance. And one may need to also get a feel for the specific situations it is designed for. I guess it’s possible to get that feel enough to get what you need with it but I didn’t take the time. I needed more spontaneity than it was capable of.

As for shooting around bird feeders (which I really don’t consider “the field”) the soft box approach worked for me.

These are shot with three Speedlights in three soft boxes with the lights set to high-speed sync so I could use any shutter I needed. Wirelessly triggered with no on-camera flash fired.





I don’t have any shots with the Beamer because I really never got anything with it I was happy enough with to keep. Maybe I should pull it out and give it another shot!

[Saorsa]

Try shooting a garage door and marking the beamer as necessary to get repeatable alignment. Once you've done that and put it on for use, try a shot with the flash and camera that will make the flash do the work. (doesn't matter if it's in focus, just point it at the ground and shoot.

That should help you with the fine centering.

[Loose Canon]

Sounds like a good procedure Brian.

Except that you lost me with pointing it at the ground.

I used it with the intention of fill purposes. I had no intention of using it as a key.

[Saorsa]

You set the camera manually so that the flash will be the primary source of illumination. Say max flash shutter speed at f22. Take a shot with the flash and you will see the illumination circle of the fresnel lens. Since the ground is close (unless you are really, really tall like a giraffe) you will see where in the frame the flash is aimed.

For distance, you would want it in the center. For a bit of fill, off to a corner should do the job.

It's difficult to get the beamer aligned absolutely the same every time you mount or dismount it. I found that a minor miss in mounting the fresnel lens would change tension on the side frames and pull it one way or another.

A quick test shot will show you. I use the garage door to make alignment marks on the flash head and frame for initial registration.

[Loose Canon]

Um, Brian?

I’ll pull it out when I get a minute! But…

If you lost me before you have lost me more now!

I’m not sure what a shutter speed of f/22 means to you. That is not a shutter speed. But since it is an aperture setting I can sure see it making a difference in the light. I am familiar with a Fresnel lens and what its purpose is.

If the device isn’t capable of adding fill at distance, and I have to use it as an only key, and have to set the camera such that this device provides key lighting, I’m thinking it may not be what I would need need except under specific circumstances and that would be limited for me.

Well, unless of course, I’m shooting at a distance at night. And that’s if I could see something at a distance at night of 300mm focal length +, which is the manufacturer’s recommended usable distance.

[Loose Canon]

Is it possible I misread this Brian? I think I did.

Were you saying use the max flash shutter speed, x-sync, and at f/22?

And if so, have you tried the device using high speed sync?

[Mark von Kanel]

Ha, you guys think you get rain?
Take a trip over the bridge to Wales
Then you will know about rain

Do you know how much it costs to use that bridge???? Not bloody likely!

[Saorsa]

Is it possible I misread this Brian? I think I did.

Were you saying use the max flash shutter speed, x-sync, and at f/22?

And if so, have you tried the device using high speed sync?

Yes, I was referring to X-sync at f22. I used max flash shutter speed since most folks today don't use X, M or FP in references to flash.

I only ever use this as an alignment check after mounting the beamer. It isn't to create an image of a subject, just a bright spot on some background. Think of the circle of illumination of a flashlight (torch to be multilingual ) aimed at a bullseye target.

You want the beamer to be hitting the bullseye but the use of velcro as an attachment means that the frame or lens can be mounted such that the aim is off center. The beamer needs to be aligned with the center line of the lens to be effective. If the brightest circle on the alignment image isn't centered, the fresnel lens is not aimed correctly.

I quite often see folks using them in the bright Florida sunshine at the Venice Rookery for fill or eye highlights at quite long distances.

Flash output power relative to ambient light determines whether the light produced is main or fill.

It works fine with High Speed Sync and any other flash mode. All it does is modify the path of the light and has no effect on other flash or camera function.