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07-13-2012, 09:48 AM   #3841
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QuoteOriginally posted by dadipentak Quote
Well, after acquainting myself with the manual and doing some on-line research on how to use it, I took my new-to-me AF 540 flash & Better Beamer out in the field yesterday. First, I gotta say that adding those to elements to a monopod-mounted K-5/Sigma 500/4.5 set-up makes negotiating the bottom-land tangles a whole lot more...um...interesting. Second, it quickly became apparent that, despite my dutiful reading, I was really clueless about how to use the flash. After a bunch of black frames, I ended up desperately trying various camera/flash settings to get something resembling success (and, of course, can't recall which 'worked' and which didn't.)

The good news is that I was able to spend some time with a juvenile heron and came away with some "um...interesting" shots.


1/160s, f6.3, ISO 3200 I think the flash fired.



1/160s, f6.3, ISO 800 Clearly the flash fired. Not your run-of-the-mill bird shot.



1/160s, f5.6, ISO 3200 I think the flash fired. This could have been good if he hadn't been moving away from me. I was glad to see him get a nice crayfish though.


Needless to say, advice would be welcomed. Also, I wonder whether--with a long lens & TC--on a monopod- such slow shutter speeds are really sufficient. Perhaps I need to try HSS?
I think the flash only fired on the second shot,

What I do with flash is to set the exposure to about -1 or -2 manually for natural daylight, then I use the flash, this lets the background fade into a blurry somewhat dark mass. If you under expose by more there is risk of burning out the subject due to the inverse square law and the metering trying to get the background light enough. Less than a stop can lead to too much subject blurr at 1/160 because of subject movement, although a heron is a pretty still subject

Your second shot is something people try for from time to time, essentually a low key shot, where the background distance is used to have the background fade to black

Except that I give up on resolution, I prefer to use my *istD and TTL flash for wild life. I think it works better


Last edited by Lowell Goudge; 07-13-2012 at 09:53 AM.
07-13-2012, 11:33 AM - 1 Like   #3842
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QuoteOriginally posted by dadipentak Quote
Well, after acquainting myself with the manual and doing some on-line research on how to use it, I took my new-to-me AF 540 flash & Better Beamer out in the field yesterday. First, I gotta say that adding those to elements to a monopod-mounted K-5/Sigma 500/4.5 set-up makes negotiating the bottom-land tangles a whole lot more...um...interesting. Second, it quickly became apparent that, despite my dutiful reading, I was really clueless about how to use the flash. After a bunch of black frames, I ended up desperately trying various camera/flash settings to get something resembling success (and, of course, can't recall which 'worked' and which didn't.)

The good news is that I was able to spend some time with a juvenile heron and came away with some "um...interesting" shots.


1/160s, f6.3, ISO 3200 I think the flash fired.



1/160s, f6.3, ISO 800 Clearly the flash fired. Not your run-of-the-mill bird shot.



1/160s, f5.6, ISO 3200 I think the flash fired. This could have been good if he hadn't been moving away from me. I was glad to see him get a nice crayfish though.


Needless to say, advice would be welcomed. Also, I wonder whether--with a long lens & TC--on a monopod- such slow shutter speeds are really sufficient. Perhaps I need to try HSS?
When you use the flash, you need to make sure the power switch is in EXACTLY the correct position, particularly when using P-TTL. If you are using the flash on camera, you don't need to worry about channels, but in the [Fn] menu, make sure that you haven't set wireless flash. Too many options.
07-13-2012, 11:40 AM   #3843
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lowell Goudge Quote
I think the flash only fired on the second shot,
Hmm. Well I played around with it some more just now and kind of liked what I got with HSS in PTTL mode on the flash and the camera in M mode (but does PTTL make any sense with the camera in M?) I do think that, since I'm using the monopod at such long focal lengths, camera motion (not so much subject motion) is a concern.
07-13-2012, 11:47 AM - 1 Like   #3844
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I've posted this before :

The Better Beamer is a couple of plastic 'arms' with velcro (the photos make it look like it's a solid unit but it's empty space both above and below - just clever product photography) and a small plastic 'Fresnel lens' that you stick on front, again with velcro. It probably costs less than $5 to produce and enterprising young (and old) men could probably make a very decent attempt at building their own.

However I am not one of them. Had I been in the USA I could have just paid my $40 and walked away .. in China however it cost me $75 as the blighter's haven't copied the damn thing yet

Anyway. What you get for your money is ...... brilliant for birding ! There is a rather large increase in the amount of light directed in the direction of your subject as the Fresnel magnifier goes to work and of course the snoot targets that light. I'd say it's possibly a 30-40% increase over flash alone.

The (poor) test shot below was (if I remember correctly) 1/32 power (Metz 50-AF1) @ 15M. I have another I took last night of a pigeon on a neighbour's rooftop at 40m @1/1 power, that was too much I fear as the flash reflection is strong in the bird's eyes and I think 1/2 power would have sufficed. 50M at full power should be doable .. and this could well transform my birding as the little #$%$#$ almost always see me, even when doing my best SAS impression, when I get within 20m !

So is this piece of plastic worth $40 ... absolutely not. Is it worth $75 to me ... that would be a definite Yes !

_________

What I'll add to that Dave is that I almost always switch to manual metering and manual flash. A few tests shots on a tree branch and you're good to go. Usually 1/16 or 1/8 power is enough for <10m, 1/8 or 1/4 for <15m and < 1/4 or 1/2 for 20m (all with the birds in dark bushes or canopy) and this helps keep your ISO down, just adjust to taste. This also helps the recycle times on the flash.

07-13-2012, 12:09 PM - 1 Like   #3845
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QuoteOriginally posted by dadipentak Quote
Hmm. Well I played around with it some more just now and kind of liked what I got with HSS in PTTL mode on the flash and the camera in M mode (but does PTTL make any sense with the camera in M?) I do think that, since I'm using the monopod at such long focal lengths, camera motion (not so much subject motion) is a concern.
the only issue with HSS is that when you consider the number of flashes, your guide number is reduced by about 6 fold. that's a guess not sure how exact it is.

P-TTL in manual mode makes all the sense in the world to me. you can set the camera exposure to anything you want and let the flash fill in the rest. note Manual mode is for the control of shutter and aperture only, P-TTL has its own set of rules (based upon the eV comp on the flash) for what it is supposed to do. so here is the point, in manual you can, when you press the shutter half way, see your metering, and where you are relitive to a natural lighting exposure, adjust your aperture or shutter (shutter preferrably) to reduce the natural contribution by taking it up to max sync, and then let the flash have at it to fill in the subject. I say use max shutter to reduce daylight exposure contribution, because stopping down cuts flash range, you want the lens as open as you can to get the distance, even with a better beamer.
07-14-2012, 01:38 AM   #3846
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Back from Thailand, sharing some birds shot there with Sigma 500/4.5.

#1 very small bird and far, shot with 1.5x TC



#2 star bird of the trip


#3 another view



#4 finally got a chance to shoot this hyper active bird stay still


Last edited by kengoh; 07-14-2012 at 02:03 AM.
07-14-2012, 02:24 AM   #3847
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Love your Pheasant Tailed Jacana Ken ! That was on my list when I went down to WuYuan last week - unfortunately although a friend has shots from there a couple of weeks earlier, I didn't see it. Some other guys I met up with there had some stupendous shots of fighting males and a female with 4 chicks. Now is the season ! Your Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker is lovely too.

07-14-2012, 05:53 AM   #3848
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Albert Lowell, & Kevin: Thanks very much for the very helpful advice and commentary on flash!
07-14-2012, 06:00 AM   #3849
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QuoteOriginally posted by dadipentak Quote
Albert Lowell, & Kevin: Thanks very much for the very helpful advice and commentary on flash!
Now it's time to go out and shoot some more, remember electrons are free!
07-14-2012, 06:27 AM   #3850
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Another great series Ken.

Always enjoy your work.

Tom G
07-14-2012, 06:48 AM   #3851
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Thanks for these Ken, realy nice.

cmohr
07-14-2012, 04:48 PM - 1 Like   #3852
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dadipentak, I love the second heron shot. A couple more dragonflys since I havent had much luck this week with anything else..
07-14-2012, 06:56 PM - 1 Like   #3853
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Grey-headed fish eagle



K5 + A*300/2.8 + 1.7xAFA
07-14-2012, 08:10 PM   #3854
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No Furthur

Sigma 100-300/4 at 250 with with Kenko 1.5.

Photograph of fans camera phone is because I'm not allowed to show pictures of the band. Signed a Performance Agreement when picking up press credential, photos can only be sent to my publication, cannot show on my website or any website, can't print, can't sell a print. Typical photographers cattle call at the sound board position, 3 songs and out. Shot concert to keep promise to publisher.

Astonished to discover lots of big name rock bands much worse. https://www.facebook.com/MusicPhotographers Some (Santana, Aerosmith, etc) require free copies of all images in 2 to 14 days plus the copyright ( not just rights) for free and you can only show "artist approved" images. Some foolish photographers sign those agreements. The answer should be clearly, No. Of course, some starry eyed souls will sign as they see it as "opportunity" and "gaining experience". If rape victims "gain experience", they may be correct.
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07-14-2012, 09:23 PM   #3855
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QuoteOriginally posted by Frogfish Quote
Love your Pheasant Tailed Jacana Ken ! That was on my list when I went down to WuYuan last week - unfortunately although a friend has shots from there a couple of weeks earlier, I didn't see it. Some other guys I met up with there had some stupendous shots of fighting males and a female with 4 chicks. Now is the season ! Your Orange-Bellied Flowerpecker is lovely too.
Thanks Frogfish.
I'll be very happy if I can shoot the male and the 4 chicks

QuoteOriginally posted by 8540tomg Quote
Another great series Ken.

Always enjoy your work.

Tom G
QuoteOriginally posted by cmohr Quote
Thanks for these Ken, realy nice.

cmohr
Thanks Tom and cmohr.
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