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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Fill Flash for Bird Photography

Early summer 2010, I made the decision to buy an external flash (SB800) to better my bird photography. At first, I was hesitant about using it because I didn't know too much about how to use it. After a few quick tips from a friend I was off to the races with it.

Purple Martin
Nikon D90, Sigma 150-500 OS, SB800 set to TTL Balanced Light +3ev w/ Better Beamer

The Purple Martin photo about was from one of my first outings with the flash. I was instantly amazed with the difference in color and detail I was able to pull out of the feathers. The Purple Martin photo is a good example of how effective fill flash can be.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Nikon D90, Nikkor 300mm f2.8 w/ TC14 @420mm, SB800 set at TTL Balanced Light +2ev

Here is another example of fill flash on bird photography that I feel really helped the image. In this situation I actually had pretty good light (which we all know doesn't happen often). The flash helped fill in the shadow areas on the perch and bird to make the light more even across the photo.

Now, the SB800 and couple sets of batteries are always in the bag ready to go.

3 comments:

  1. How close were you to the birds and what settings, if any, did you make to the SB-800? Did you use a flash extender (ie., Better Beamer). Sorry for all the questions. Very curious.

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  2. For the purple martin I used a better beamer, on the SB800 I had it on TTL BL (balanced Light) at +3ev.

    The nuthatch I had the same settings as above with no better beamer.

    I'm going to do a more in depth post about fill flash soon.

    Thanks for the questions. Let me know if there is something else I can help you.

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  3. Thanks, Derek. Looking forward to the follow up article. I've used fill flash for wildlife before but the subjects were within 3 to 5 feet (shooting from a car at a wildlife refuge where the birds are used to cars near them.)

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