Eliminating/reducing red eye in owls when using a flash?

[Ofer Levy]

Hi all,
A good friend of mine is currently in South Africa in a photographic safari. He got great opportunities to photograph owls at night but the eyes become red and hard to fix. Anyone with experience in night owl photography who can give some advice as to how to minimize/eliminate this problem? He tried mounting the flash on a Wimberley flash bracket but it doesn't really help.
Thanks guys,
Ofer

[Humberto Ramos]

Maybe if he put the flash in a lateral side will work...

[Charles Glatzer]

Get the flash(s) further off camera axis. This usually involves another person, but you can handhold the flash, and use the camera self timer if necessary.

[Doug Brown]

I have a friend shine a flashlight on the owl to assist with AF lock. They hold a flashlight in one hand and a radio-controlled flash in the other. I've got the flash trigger mounted on the body. After I capture a few frames, we switch jobs. Your assistant can be as few as 5-10 feet off to your side to eliminate red eye. Here is a RAW file 100% crop of a nighttime owl photo using the technique I just described.

[Ofer Levy]

Thanks for your great input Humberto, Chas and Doug! Very helpful!
Doug, the eyes in this image look fantastic!

[Greg Basco]

Ofer, sidelighting for sure. I had a chance to photograph some owls at night recently in Costa Rica and used radio triggers to get my main light way off to the side -- turned out pretty cool and gave lots of texture in the feathers.

Cheers,
Greg

[Ofer Levy]

Thanks Greg! Have told my friend and hope to have some opportunities with owls in Oz in the near future....