Fill Flash in Wildlife Photography

[flyfishertoo]

I have attempted to use fill flash for wildlife photography and always end up with unsatisfactory results. The eyes of the animal usually suffer from "red eye". What am I doing wrong?

[cox]

The flash needs to be at a angle to the camera-subject line. At least, that fixes it with people... For people I use a flash bracket, or a separate tripod, and voila, no red-eye. I never tried in the field...

[gparr]

The only way I know is to make the flash angle to the subject notably different than the lens angle, which requires a flash bracket or a remote cord so you can hold the flash off to the side.
Gary

[lecter]

There is no easy way.
Even when using a flash extender.
The Angles are less acute from a 500/4 at a distance and the off centre Flash may not make a difference.
Just fixing them in post is sometimes the only option

This photo I took before I had lightroom....
I can make it look way better now.. too bad the RAW is in Thailand and I am stuck here....

Rob

http://www.pbase.com/lecter/image/56585955.jpg:mad:

[flyfishertoo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping for something different. I can't see me hauling more equipment into the woods. It is difficult enough carrying the camera with generally the 100-400, tripod, backpack. I can't see me adding a flash bracket and another tripod is out of the question. I have a hard enough time getting the tripod set and framing the picture before the subject either flies or runs away. I can't imagine trying to setup the second tripod.

[skagitswimmer]

The wimberly flash bracket I use raises the flash above my 600mm enough so I have never had a problem with red-eye using a single flash. the bracket mounts to the same arca-swiss plate that the tripod mounts to.

[FredG]

I've done very little fill flash with wildlife, and usually with lousy results (I tend to overexpose and everything looks artificial.) I rely on post processing to remove any red eye.

[Ron Kruger]

If you will take your flash fill wildlife pictures only when the animal is not looking directly into the camera, you won't get any red-eye.

[Annie85]

A lot of flash brackets are pretty lightweight and shouldn't add much inconvenience. I haven't seen much wildlife photography done using fill flash. Could you post an example of the problem you're getting?

[Ron Kruger]

I use fill-flash quite a bit for wildlife, but I rarely press the shutter when the animal is looking directly at the camera, whether using flash or not. Those don't sell very well, because they look like they were probably taken in a zoo or someone's back yard. Really wild animals don't just stand around looking at the camera--they run or fly away. I always try to get shots that look candid, so I don't usually have redeye problems.
The amount of redeye you get is in relationship to the ambiant light. If you are truly using fill-flash in conditions were the ambiant light is not dull, and especially at mid-day, you get less redeye than when the light is almost gone. That's not fill-flash--that's mostly flash.

[flyfishertoo]

I use fill-flash quite a bit for wildlife, but I rarely press the shutter when the animal is looking directly at the camera, whether using flash or not. Those don't sell very well, because they look like they were probably taken in a zoo or someone's back yard. Really wild animals don't just stand around looking at the camera--they run or fly away. I always try to get shots that look candid, so I don't usually have redeye problems.
The amount of redeye you get is in relationship to the ambiant light. If you are truly using fill-flash in conditions were the ambiant light is not dull, and especially at mid-day, you get less redeye than when the light is almost gone. That's not fill-flash--that's mostly flash.

I would love to see an example of what you mean by "directly" at the camera. Most consider the perfect head angle for birds, is for the birds head to be slightly turned towards the camera, which is say not quite parallel to the film/sensor plane. That pretty much puts the bird looking directly at the camera. Other subjects vary but you almost always want eye contact which leads to "red" or "steel" eye.

As to taking pictures at mid-day, I don't have a problem then as my camera is generally put away at mid-day unless the sky is overcast.

Since the original post, like most aspects of photography, with continued practice I am getting better results. I still have a long way to go, but I am getting better results.

[Ron Kruger]

I can't figure out how to post images here, but if you will check out my website
http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/ronkruger you'll see quite a few fill-flash images of wildlife, fish and birds, especially against sunrises and sunsets.