I have been getting some great questions about bird photography, and the latest one was about using flash with bird photography. Does flash make a better picture? Will available light be okay on a cloudy day with no flash? What birds look good with flash? All excellent questions! And with most things in photography, there is no right or wrong answer, but I will describe some pros and cons of flash with birds.
Most bird photographers who like to use flash will say how much better colors look when they use this technique. If it is an overcast day, and the light is pretty flat, then adding just a touch of flash to a warbler will improve color and add a little pop. Flash kelvin is 5500, which means flash is like daylight….ie warmer than flat overhead light, so things look good when they have this applied. Birds have two ways they show color, some through iridescence and others have pigments. Iridescence works when the light angle is perfect and the color just pops…like when illuminated by a flash. Think of a hummingbird’s throat patch…it looks dark until the sun hits it just right, and then it pops with bright color. Birds that have iridescence include hummingbirds and some warblers. But many birds have pigments that produce their color, so these colors don’t change due to an angle of light, but can look brighter if illuminated by flash.
So the main reasons photographers like to use flash are improve color, add catchlights in eyes, reduce contrast with a bright sky and in some cases freeze the action. We teach hummingbird photo workshops, and on these we illuminate the birds using six speedlights at very low power. The flash duration is close to 1/15000, and since it is the only thing lighting the birds, the flash freezes the speedy hummingbird wings and pops iridescent color. For birds on the trail photographers often use a better beamer to push the flash further into the scene, and often mount the flash slightly above the lens to avoid steel eye. I use this technique in dark jungle areas like Ecuador and Costa Rica, as long as I don’t scare the birds.
So flash can help with bird photography, especially birds with iridescence. But are their drawbacks? The downsides are you can’t shoot at 20FPS, only one frame at a time while your flash recycles power. Flash can scare the birds. Flash adds more weight and tech to your setup so you are less likely to be able to move quickly to capture interesting, but brief, behavior moments.
Flash photography with birds was really helpful back when we shot slide film with 5 stops of latitude. Modern sensors and editing has really helped what flash is adding. With just a quick of ‘subject detection’ I can select a bird, open up shadows, add micro contrast using the texture slider, and add saturation. Modern sensors have three times the ability to record dynamic range, so shadows and highlights are less of a problem. I find I get great catchlights in bird eyes in most lighting conditions, it just depends which way the bird has tilted his head.
What will you do? To flash or not to flash? I use both techniques, but mostly I don’t worry about adding flash unless I am photographing hummingbirds. For hummers I set up my six speedlights to freeze the action and add color. But for birds in the forest I shoot in available light. Personally I like being able to caption rare moments at 20 or 30FPS rather than one frame that is illuminated by flash. You decide what style and look you want!