Flash as Main Light/Captive

[Arthur Morris]

This ten day old Roseate Spoonbill chick was photographed with the Canon 400mm f/4IS DO lens with the 1.4X II TC, 37mm of extension, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400: 1/80 sec. at f/8. Manual flash at 1:8 using flash as main light techniques as described in detail in APB II.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

Below is an excerpt from today's (21 April's) blog post; note: I was referring to an image made with the same techniques with the same gear:

"The correct manual exposure would have been about 1/4 second at f/18, yet the image is not only sharp but bright. What gives? I was using two related techniques: Flash as Main Light along with Manual Flash. And I am betting that fewer than 1 in a 100 photographers have the knowledge to use these valuable techniques. If you are ever in a situation where there is seemingly not enough light for photographing at a reasonable ISO setting, then Flash as Main Light and Manual Flash should be in your arsenal…. Basically you are setting a shutter speed and aperture combination that would result in the image being black if the flash does not fire. You can learn to use both Flash as Main Light and Manual Flash in “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32"


To read the rest of my comments on flash as main light, to learn a few additional tips that are not in the CD book, and to learn the location of the spoonbill nest, do visit the blog at http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/

[Myer Bornstein]

Thanks for the info Artie

[Harshad Barve]

thanks for the info Guruji

[Randy Stout]

Artie"

Nice flash tip. Very useful.

I am not sure what to think of the parent's leg in the background. I might be tempted to really knock down its luminosity or even remove. It really jumps out at me.

Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Dear info thankers :) Feel free to comment on the image :):)

[Tom Graham]

Ok, I do like the OOF leg, but not enthused about the very dark BG.
Tom

[Arthur Morris]

Ok, I do like the OOF leg, but not enthused about the very dark BG. Tom

Hi Tom, When using flash as main light with backgrounds that are not proximal to the subject avoiding the black background look that screams flash is a challenge, thus the 1/80 sec. shutter speed. The background was dark, shaded dirt and vegetation; if I went much slower than 1/80 in an effort to bring up the BKGR I was close enough to the actual exposure to introduce ghosting, a second exposure registered by any movement by the subject. Not good :) I like the leg too but will likely take Randy's suggesting and tone it down a bit in the master TIFF.

[Dave Leroy]

Is that ever a soft looking little bird. I really like how you captured that.

Amazing little thing.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Dave. Working with flash as main light getting the image to look halfway natural is always a challenge. :)

[Sid Garige]

Never seen a baby spoonbill closeup. Exceptional job considering shooting conditions.

[Troy Lim]

Thanks for the tips Arthur.

[Arthur Morris]

You are most welcome Troy.