Who wants Din Din?

[Troy Lim]

Female came in with the prey. At this stage, babies were old enough that they were blocking the cavity. She would land in front of the nest, often turn around and check on the surrounding before deciding which baby to feed, or wait until the ones around the cavity to clear the space for her to go in and feed the others. These two red morph adults have 2 red and 2 grey babies. This shot shows one of each at the cavity.
Not called, not baited and clearly flashed.
1Dx | 200-400L | 1/320 | f/14 | ISO2000 | Two Flashes | Manual | Tripod on top of the roof

[gail bisson]

This is excellent Troy.
I am not a fan of flashes but the behavior you captured and the good lighting on the chicks negates any personal bias I have of flash!
Tack sharp, great to see all subjects so clearly and love the lizard tail and the line it creates.
The foot on the trunk adds another good level of detail.
Comp is good but I would take some off the RHS to reduce the amount of black space and make image even more of a vertical,
Gail

[Lorant Voros]

Great to have both chicks in the image and all 3 birds are sharp with eye contact. Well executed, Troy.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Stunning Troy! Unique capture, well done and quite beautiful.
If possible, can you provide me your feelings on flashing these birds? Their irises are so wide open, they look rather stunned and/or subject to multiple flash. I try to put myself in the bird's place... and if I was trying to feed my "kids"... and was distracted, then blinded (I'm assuming their eyes are more sensitive than ours?) what impact may that have on them? I'm in the ETL photography "category" ... but studying birds/environment is my passion ... would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

[Troy Lim]

Stunning Troy! Unique capture, well done and quite beautiful.
If possible, can you provide me your feelings on flashing these birds? Their irises are so wide open, they look rather stunned and/or subject to multiple flash. I try to put myself in the bird's place... and if I was trying to feed my "kids"... and was distracted, then blinded (I'm assuming their eyes are more sensitive than ours?) what impact may that have on them? I'm in the ETL photography "category" ... but studying birds/environment is my passion ... would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

Sandy, I am by no expert at all in this subject. I have read articles from both sides on the effect on the flashes on birds. I know this has been one of the hot topics in wildlife photography. Based on the article that I read, there is no 100% scientific proof that flashes actually causes harm to their eyes or lather their behaviors. Their pupils dilated to let more light in just like human being. What I do noticed is that during day or night, after flash went off, their pupil adjusted for a split second and then will return normal.
I have been photographing owls since the I started in 2009. I have used flash on almost all owl species here in FL. All these years, I NEVER, I repeat, I NEVER seen them fly into trees, windows or fences right after the flash went off. In fact, their hunting behavior did not change at all the time that I am there. They have brought in lizards, moth, spider, crickets and more. In fact, all 4 babies were fed and have fledged successfully. This nest is located on a private property surrounded by many houses. If lights or flashes in fact cause harm to their eyes, they would not have nested there for the past 8 years.
I only started photographing them after the babies are old enough to start peeking out of the cavity. I made it a point to spend no more than 2 hours per night almost every night until the babies fledged successfully. I wanted them to keep hunting in the dark for the rest of the evening. The flashes were setup at a distance and pointed away and not directly into the nest cavity and I kept my distance. There was no rapid fire of hundred shots at a time during my time spent there. From my personal experience after photographing many Screech owl nests, I never noticed any change of behavior that was caused by the use of flash. In fact, every single nest that I photographed this season all have babies fledged successfully.

Below is what I found from Cornell Lab regarding the effect of flash on birds.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/bp/

Questions and Answers

Q. Does the use of one or more photographic flash units harm the eyes of the birds?

A. There is no scientific evidence, one way or the other, that the use of one or more flash units creates a significant problem for the bird. Presumably the effect would be similar to what it is for humans, but no one knows for sure.

Photographers have been using multiple flash arrays since the late 1940s to document the entire nesting cycles of birds such as Great Horned Owls and various songbirds and hummingbirds. The process does not have a record of causing the birds to abandon the nest or of individual birds disappearing. Greater care should be taken when photographing birds that are actively feeding at night.

[Holger Leyrer]

Hi Troy,

your owl images are stunning. In my eyes, this image is one of your best .

[Troy Lim]

Hi Troy,

your owl images are stunning. In my eyes, this image is one of your best .

Holger, I appreciate it.

[Marina Scarr]

This one is really working for me b/c you can see all of the faces, most of the eyes and the prey with the swinging tail.

I have done some research on flashing owls as well and have found pretty much the same info. There is really no information out there that flashing an owl does harm. The only thing I saw is that while they are actually in the act of hunting, it can cause an issue. While they are nocturnal creatures, they tend to venture toward lighted areas to catch their prey esp for insects.

[Troy Lim]

This one is really working for me b/c you can see all of the faces, most of the eyes and the prey with the swinging tail.

I have done some research on flashing owls as well and have found pretty much the same info. There is really no information out there that flashing an owl does harm. The only thing I saw is that while they are actually in the act of hunting, it can cause an issue. While they are nocturnal creatures, they tend to venture toward lighted areas to catch their prey esp for insects.

Thank you Marina for confirming this. The light actually attracts a lot of insects and I saw the adult catching the moth in mid air. There was no way for me be able to track these guys fast enough to get that type of shots, plus the flashes would be out of range. That's why I was concentrating on the feeding shots. They would disappeared in the dark and come back with prey, they always land on the 2 favorite spots to prepare the prey before flying into the nest to feed to the owlets.
I can't wait to see your images Marina. I am sure you will get awesome shots.

[Binu John]

Stunning shot, Troy! I really like the way you used the flash.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thank you VERY much Troy, for sharing your experience and the research with me (and, with others here on BPN!). Your response was really helpful! I appreciate you taking the time to provide some great detail and education....It's surely apparent that you respect your subjects immensely. (and I can't believe I said "iris" rather than "pupil"!) I will look forward to many more of your images.

[Troy Lim]

Thank you VERY much Troy, for sharing your experience and the research with me (and, with others here on BPN!). Your response was really helpful! I appreciate you taking the time to provide some great detail and education....It's surely apparent that you respect your subjects immensely. (and I can't believe I said "iris" rather than "pupil"!) I will look forward to many more of your images.

Sandy, you are welcome. I am glad you asked that question. I have encountered some photographers that are ignorant enough that just solely rely on what they read online and never really go out and experience it, and starting attacking others because the use of flash. I do read articles from both sides and I only believe what I observed and learned from my past experience. If I see that flashes altered their behaviors, I would have stopped using it. The two nests that I experienced the fledgling process this season happened with the use of flash and our presence and they all left the nest successfully.