Critique Desired: White Egret Chicks

[Eric Diller]

Ok...something new for me. I hate using flash on Wildlife, especially on birds but this nest location left me no choice. Nest was in a strange lighting location. Yes I know there a twigs in the way but that the way it is in the wild. I'm not one who likes to photoshop every little thing to make a perfect picture...just not the way it was captured.

With all that said how did i do with the fill flash on the white birds?


200-400MM F4 Nikkor lens
ISO 400
Shutter 1/200
Aperture F10
Tripod - (and that hated flash i dislike so much ;) )

Thanks for any feed back and 2 days until Costa Rica!!

[Rachel Foster]

The second image is wonderful. Well, they all are, but especially the second.

[Edward Bussa]

Funny birds! Great pics. I'm very entertained. Did you have your flash on-camera? Nice subtle fill flash if so, well done anyhow.

Nikon's flash system is top-notch, did you use flash compensation?

[Don Cohen]

Challenging situation, Eric - looks like there's fairly bright sun on parts of the white birds (see some blown out detail on the head in the first shot), with darker shadows elsewhere. Definitely a situation where fill-flash might be of benefit.

What was the shooting distance, was the Better Beamer (or similar device) used, and was Flash Exposure Compensation (or even Flash Exposure Lock) used? In such situations, when time allows, I'll try to take some shots with and without fill-flash, or alter my settings, and see how much effect there is. Depending on the specifics, it can have more effect in some situations than in others.

Neat shots, regardless.

And be prepared to use your flash in Costa Rica, because sometimes you just plain need it. I prefer to shoot without it as well, but sometimes you do what you gotta do!

[Andy brown]

Eric, nice stuff.
The first one is very quirky, the third one is cool and the middle one is awesome! What a great moment. The chooky in the middle is pure humour. There's narrative all over this.

Impressed.

I reckon you could drop the exposure back and lose nothing and gain some more impact.

[Winston Mitchell]

I like all three. I think the fill work best by far in the second one.

[Wendy Thurman]

I'd call this a most judicious employment of fill. These are superb. I'm with the others on the second image; it has enormous possibilities.

Thanks for showing,

Wendy

[Eric Diller]

Originally Posted by Edward Bussa

Funny birds! Great pics. I'm very entertained. Did you have your flash on-camera? Nice subtle fill flash if so, well done anyhow.

Nikon's flash system is top-notch, did you use flash compensation?

I attached my SB-600 flash...and did not use flash compensation I just adjusted my flash head to get the right light and was making sure i didn't get that flash look in the eyes.

Thanks all for the feed back.

[Don Cohen]

Originally Posted by Eric Diller

I just adjusted my flash head to get the right light and was making sure i didn't get that flash look in the eyes.

Thanks for the added detail. And you're absolutely right about this - that funky eye reflect that you often get with fill-flash, or flash of any type, is definitely the main reason to avoid flash when possible.