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Strobist in the wild
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I was out testing a new (to me) Nikkor 300 mm F 2.8 lens yesterday and I spotted this Great Egret. I couldn't get up-sun from him, but I did have a light stand, a SB-26 Speed light, and a set of Chinese RF triggers. He got a little nervous when I got to within 20 feet with the light, so I stopped and set it up there, which turned out to be about 30 degrees to camera left. Then I backed off to around twice that distance and made quite a few shots, using the SB-26 to fill in the shadows.
All my previous wildlife flash photography has been on-camera, but it seems that the Strobist Philosophy works for wildlife photos too. Does anyone else have off-camera-flash wildlife shots or educational tips to share?
Bob
Posted at 10:06AM, 27 November 2006 PDT
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The real problem with off-camera wildlife photos is that creatures move, and won't let you get close. This means that you need to regularly adjust the aim of your off-camera flash, and the off-camera flash needs to be a significant distance from both creature and camera. This means you're going to need an assistant or some sort of flash-aiming gadget much of the time.
To date, this is the only in-the-wild shot I've taken with an off-camera flash:
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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very1silent edited this topic 67 months ago.
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Great Shot Bob, love the rim lighting, it really seperates the bird from the background.
Posted 67 months ago.
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"The real problem with off-camera wildlife photos is that creatures move, and won't let you get close."
Nesting birds might be an important exception, with the caveat that one MUST consider the welfare and safety of the subject, both for ethical, not to mention legal reasons; all wild birds have federal protection.
Posted 67 months ago.
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siriusguy50 wrote: "Nesting birds might be an important exception"
Yeah, I can see a few places that might work -- and there's one other exception worth mention: feeders.
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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very1silent edited this topic 67 months ago.
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I regularly rig feeders with multiple strobes for avian photography. It's a lot of prep, but very cool to control the lighting to the degree it can be done. It all started when I found that $5,000 for a 500mm AF-S was WAY out of my bank account's reality, and I'd need to find a way to bring the birds to ME instead of the other way around.
$85 for a camo blind and a little thought, and here's how it develops:
First is to set up feeders in the general area you want to photograph - do this a few days in advance so the birds will find it and come to it regularly. I choose spots that I can predict will be front-lit at the time of day I think I'll be there (my free time is scarce, and I can actually narrow down my availability to a few hours of a particular coming afternoon).
Then, I'll put a platform feeder in place...home-built, it's basically a plywood table with a 4-ft. tall spike as a single leg that I can stick into the ground. I'll then take down the feeders, or hang them on nails protruding from the platform - the birds'll recognize them, spotting them 7 feet from where they were (high, out of reach of those f-ing squirrels, the &^@#@#&^^!! tree rats that they are), and come down to where you want them to be.
I'll start with a location that allows a smooth background when thrown out of focus, typically a hedge or a house at least 40 yards back. I set up the feeding station for the birds there.
Then, I'll rig the camera with a 300mm+1.4x, and get back a distance to the feeding station that's comfy, allowing for both large and small birds to mostly fill the frame. That's where I'll set up my blind, which is basically a camo-colored hunting blind from Cabelas.com. Then, I'll spend a good amount of time choosing perches for the birds, setting the old but aesthetically decent sticks and branches around the feeding station.
I'll then lash SB flash units to nearby trees, or even just stick a light stand out there for the flashes. I keep them up about four feet higher than than the station/perches at a down-angle to emulate the sun, at about 45-degrees to the side. Typically they're about 8 feet from the station, aprox 1/3 the distance from the perches to me in the blind...more than well within range of an SB-800 preflash, or even my SU-800 controller.
I'll climb into the blind, sit on a $10 folding picnic chair with a book and some cocoa, and wait. With Nikon's CLS as I use (I often go off-camera, letting the Master or Controller pop out of the blind's window on a stand so that only the motion of the lens can be seen by the birds - this will keep them relaxed as opposed to a swiveling camera and flash gear freaking them out and scaring them off), it's a simple matter adjusting the flash for light/dark-colored birds. With PWs, you'd be flipping f-stops a bit, as you can't leave the blind...just remember the goal is to not have it look like you used flash to do more than open up shadows and add a sparkle to the eye. . .getting fantastic shots with fill-flash in nature photography takes a little know-how, and I highly recc Art Morris' texts, Birds as Art (1+2), as a guide for it - 'tis my bible:)
I added a second, side strobe to the bottom shot, on the one of the grackle - getting a little experimental. I was happy with the result, but I think in the end it's a little overboard, as the bird comes off looking like it's stuffed and photographed in a studio.
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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Cappy5511 edited this topic 67 months ago.
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Cappy, that's fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 67 months ago.
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One way I've done it, is to use wireless E-TTL with my Canon 580EX and the 420EX on my wife's camera. We usually have flash extenders on, so I set my wife's flash to SLAVE, and have her aim at the bird, set the 580EX to fire the remote only.
Mainly, this is for a little fill flash on an Eastern Screech Owl without getting red-eye.
Posted 67 months ago.
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These are all incredible shots!!!
Posted 67 months ago.
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Glad! Pete, off to enjoy your food shots...
Posted 67 months ago.
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@Cappy5511,
Nice shots... I'll have to take a look at doing that myself. Are you firing all your strobes at once or are you using multiple channels to selectively fire strobes? (I figure all at once, because you probably don't have time to fiddle with PW channels when a bird is in position.)
@siriusguy50,
Not all wild birds are protected by law in the US. Just most of them. Ethically, it doesn't matter... there's no reason to harm a bird just to take a picture, of course. But for some birds, just disturbing their nesting sight may be illegal, while for other birds you may be allowed to shoot them (dead) on sight. Depends on which laws cover the bird in question (Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Act, or others).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_bird_act
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act
Posted 67 months ago.
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@Cappy5511, Um, right, you're using Nikon's sync thingy... that's what I get for doing three things at once and forgetting that this isn't all about Pocket Wizards again. :)
@Mozella, You're not getting the love you should in this thread... that's a great shot for sneaking up on a bird with a light on a stand.
Posted 67 months ago.
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siriusguy (great screen name by the way!) you took the words riht out of my mouth... be carefull out there when shooting the animals, remember, your in their house, show respect. to the original poster, that is an awesome shot...esp since these are very skiddish birds, at least the ones i have seen..lol
Posted 67 months ago.
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Pocket Wizards are on the same shopping list as the 500mm AF-S :)
Posted 67 months ago.
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Cappy,
I love the Grackle. I see the stuffed and mounted thing you're talking about, but it doesn't bother me.
You pulled a ton of sharp detail out of that black plumage.
Posted 67 months ago.
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Sorry if this is off-topc...
That flash extender thing looks like a magnifying sheet placed in front of a flash w/ some brackets. Is there something special to it? Has anyone experimented making their own with a magnifying sheet?
www.amazon.com/Sheet-Magnifier-2x-8-1-inches/dp/B00012KC3...
Posted 67 months ago.
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>>.........That flash extender thing looks like a magnifying sheet placed in front of a flash w/ some brackets. Is there something special to it? Has anyone experimented making their own with a magnifying sheet?......>>
Certainly anyone who could make a Strobist style snoot could make a flash extender, IF one could get hold of the proper Fresnel lens. Here's a link to one likely looking lens including a bit of history.
scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3070877
Bob
Posted 67 months ago.
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That one looks a bit large. You'd have to cut out the center (not like you can make multiples out of it).
Posted 67 months ago.
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I was standing in the tidepools, with the camera mounted on a tripod. I had a cable release in one hand, and a 550 EX flash, with an Omnibounce, on a cable, in my other hand. The camera was aimed straight on into the aggregating anemone's oral disc, and the flash was angled toward the anemone from about two feet above and forward of the camera. The camera was a 1DS 2 with a 180 macro lens and a 1.4 teleconverter and a 25mm extension tube. Focus, aperture, and shutter speed were manually set. I set the camera to f/22 and 1/250 of a second, to minimize ambient light, because it would have shown reflections of the overcast sky on the water's surface. The flash was set to +1 stop, if I'm remembering correctly.
Posted 67 months ago.
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May I ask how a "feeder" looks like, and how I do get butterflys and other insects to come to me? :)
Posted 67 months ago.
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jlw: I think people are mostly talking about bird feeders, not butterfly or insect feeders.
There are different kinds of bird feeder for different kinds of bird -- each species eats a different kind of food. They're highly variable in appearance. Some look like platforms with seeds scattered on them, others look like tubes with perches and seeds inside. Woodpecker feeders look like mesh cages with suet, and hummingbird feeders are generally in the form of an inverted bottle (filled with sugar solution) with red fake flowers at the bottom. Feeders for frugivorious birds consist of a perch and a spike for putting half an orange or apple on. Feeding stations for condors and vultures consist of a large dead animal left on the ground.
You can see diagrams of most bird feeder types here.
There are butterfly feeders, but I'm not aware of anybody actually using them. The usual strategy is to plant plants that the butterflies like and be patient. Your local library probably books about choosing plants which will attract butterflies in your climate
Monarch butterflies are a special case. There are particular locations on the California coast and in Mexico where they congregate by the thousands or millions each winter. By visiting one of these locations with a long lens, you're assured of being able to get a decent shot.
If you do capture an insect (not ok for some protected species, or in most parks, or in some flickr groups which bar photos of captive animals) it is worth noting that refrigeration will slow it down greatly.
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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very1silent edited this topic 67 months ago.
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Mike - I don't believe I've ever seen a better photo of an aggregating anemone's oral disc......
Posted 67 months ago.
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Carlos,
Thanks... I think.
Posted 67 months ago.
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