I had an opportunity a while back to go searching for Owls along a back road in a farming district, but alone, so no help with extra hands to hold torches etc etc. Seen quite a few Barn Owls on the roadside and managed quite a few images, but never quite happy with the quality. Basically driving along the road until I spotted an Owl in the headlights, getting out of the car with headlights still on in hope to dazzle the bird...or distract it from me approaching. Once close enough turning on the high powered torches and camera and shooting.
Found it really trial and error to get a half decent exposure, and thankfully I seen a few birds to practice on, manages maybe 20 shots similar to this one, but always over flashed looking and lacking fine detail.
I used my Canon 7D and 500 F4 with the external flash plus two high power micro torches strapped to the flash head as I found it really hard to juggle camera, torch etc by oneself. Curious if anyone has tried this before and how did you manage it. I simply used the roof of my car as a support for camera as every time I dragged the tripod out and set it up the Owls took off....any tips gratefully accepted
Canon 7D + 500 f4....f4.5, 1/25, ISO1600, -0.3EV, external flash...cropped image and distance of approx 40 to 50 feet { approx 15 metres }
This is an incredible post not only is the image fantastic but the field techniques used are novel and productive (I trust safe for you and the bird) assuming you did not stress the birds too much. So the picture was taken using the top of a car for stability with lights attached to the flash - nice job there MacGyver. I am still processing the techs but the detail is nice for a 1/25 shutter speed and the light might be a bit strong but given the situation well done. Thanks for including the distance so it was at least a 50% crop even with the 500mm at 50 feet.
Not trying to be critical but what about traffic flow assume you pulled off the road, were there any issues with traffic. I know you took remote roads but would you consider this a safe practice? Now back to the techs, nice job with the high ISO maybe leave the power at full (100%) or increase to a + 2 and drop one or both torches. This is a trial and error situation but there are several ways to influence flash,.ETTL percentages and distance and don't forget the better beamer (BB) it adds up to 2.5 full stops of light. I would leverage the BB and bump up the power setting before strapping on a torch. Anyway, be safe and thanks for the post, very nice shot.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 06-29-2012 at 05:33 PM.
Thanks Jeff, I found it a juggle not just with gear but with light intensity from flash and torches, my biggest problem was not lack of light from not using a BB, but light being too strong along with two mini CREE torches, most of the time I had to turn one off. I found if I shone the torch beams directly onto the bird it was much too bright reflecting off the white plumage, but directing the torch slightly off subject, but that brought problems of getting the AF to lock on. I never allowed the torches to shine directly into the eyes of the Owls as I was concerned about possible eye damage, but that is probably unlikely. I found almost every Owl turned it's head slightly away from the beam as this image showed.
As far as safety on the road, this was a remote part of the countryside and traffic in Southern Australia rural areas is almost non existent, over a two hour period I didn't see a single other vehicle, but it is certainly something to consider.
I'm surprised nobody else has done this type of birding as I would love to hear/learn from their experiences as well....below is an image of how I set up the torches.
Hi Phil, this type photography is not "that" uncommon, and you have succesfully dealt with the serious red eye that often results. The problem here, in my opinion, is that it looks over-flashed, and the fact that the light appears to have been more or less head on leads to loss of detail since there are none of those small shadows that make texture visible. I'm not saying the detail is bad (its quite gooD), its just that I think it could be a bit better. I think that a greater offset of the main light (presumably the flash) and perhaps use of the flashlights to fill on the other side might be better. I also think the biggest trick when using a flash , regardless of night or day, is making the image look like a flash wasn't used. Regards~Bill
Last edited by WIlliam Maroldo; 06-29-2012 at 09:19 PM.
Very nice image, Phil. Nice technique and commendable dedication. Very nice pose and sharpness. Love those sharp talons.
I would move the bird away from the center to the left a bit.
Here's a repost where I reduced the highlights and warmified the image a bit to reduce the flashed look, and also eliminated the slight red eye.
What do you think?
PS: In the pic of your flash setup, there's fire and smoke on the left side and some gigantic OOF bipeds in the bg? Very curious :)
Last edited by Sidharth Kodikal; 06-29-2012 at 10:00 PM.
Sidharth, your edit is marvelous, a huge improvement, now I need go ahead and edit the other images in hope to get them all as good as this...my PS skills are ...well...unskilled .
And to answer you question regarding the second image....it was just my campsite and the giant oof birds are just Emus, quite common in rural areas. At this particular campsite there was up to 50 or more milling around curious as to what I was doing. Problem with Emus is they can be a bit too curious, and anything lying around big enough to swallow....often gets swallowed or disassembled
The edits I did were pretty simple. Everything in photoshop.
Reduced highlights using the Shadows/Highlights tool.
Opened shadows very slightly.
Added a touch of warmth using the warming filter.
Removed the red-eye using the paint brush (just painted black over the red)
If I were to start with a RAW file, I would probably set the color temperature there.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the reply on your campsite. Looks like a pretty cool place.
Hi Phil, nicely done and kudos for your approach to the lighting - good thinking there! As mentioned, possibly the greatest challenge with flash is learning to control the light output. Your original is a bit hot and Sidharth's repost really brings out some nice detail and nuance of color. One thing I do notice in the image is a slight purple color cast to the darker areas which could be fixed easily in post. I really like your thinking in your approach to solo night shooting. Giving your own eye some help and supplying some light for the camera to focus with really did the trick here. Nice job!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Neat idea Phil. It's difficult to obtain pleasing results using flash as the main light is but this is pretty darn good. If you think about it as a studio lighting problem, in an ideal world you might want flashes set on stands each side of the perch, with one giving the main light and the other some modelling light on the other side. Of course this could be all fantasy but I wonder if a set-up like this might work?
Thanks John, I'm toying with the idea of using mice contained withing a small cage and attached to a possible perch in hope to attract an Owl, then lie in wait with flash set up off camera, or multiple flashes.....when time permits sighhhhh
I would like to see you not use living creatures as bait I do not think it is needed. Rather continue to work the subject, plan and study habitat as well as behavior it works most of the time. True many folks spread some bird seed to cause a stir but living creatures is another thing IMO; a field technique I would like to discourage - thanks for the cooperation.
Phil, I agree that live bait is a risky venture. While your cage may seem adequate, it is quite possible that the bird would either injure itself trying to get to the bait or that the mouse would be killed but not consumed by the bird. Neither way is going to result in good birding ethics in my opinion. I think that you are getting very nice results with the minimally invasive use of flash and I would encourage that.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Understand the concerns, I do have a huge respect for life on this planet, I worked for the RSPCA/Humane Society for 10 years and I do/would take all things into consideration including any possible injury to any bird, The small cage design { not my own design } is pretty well guaranteed injury safe. The mouse would be wild caught, and Australia has zillions of them all of which cost out farmers etc billions of dollars every year in crop and habitat damage. Australia is inflicted with horrifying mouse plagues regularly, one must see it to believe the scale of such seasonal vermin infestations. Very doubtful the mouse contained within the cage apparatus would be injured either, and bear in mind also the mouse will not be released back into the wild after attracting a bird, it would be euthanized. It would be very much frowned upon and irresponsible of me to release one seeing as the farmers etc try to destroy them by the zillions constantly with poisons etc .
I guess it all become a bit political for score points on either side of the debate, but I see little difference between this and using bait for fishing, or traumatic mass farming, transport and slaughter of farmed livestock to feed and clothe us and our pets....my apologies to any vegetarians reading this.
Night birding
