CAMERA TALK-FILL FLASH

Traditionally flash is used in nature photography for either close up
work where depth of field is needed or in those classical bird portraits
of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, showing a pinsharp bird against a dark background
even when the subject is usually seen in daylight. These latter were the
product of a time when flash equipment was heavy and calculations of exposure
more complicated. The electronic/computer revolution has changed all that
and we now have at our disposal lightweight, compact, computerized smart
flashunits and cameras which take the drudgery out of nature flash photography.

A good example of the utilization of these recent advances is exemplified
here by the photograph which was taken by my son, Michael, already an accomplished
award winning photographer at the age of sixteen years. It is spring in
Bahrain and we are looking for subjects for him to photograph for the BBC
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition 1994. He decided that
a colourful subject would be the best choice. Maybe a White-cheeked Bulbul,
a Hoopoe, a Bee-eater or one of the seven species of shrike which are seen
in Bahrain. The mesquite groves of Sakhir are a draw for migrating birds
during the spring and the new delicate leaves will often provide an attractive
surround for the main subject. We cruised around the area on a fine afternoon
looking for any subjects which might present themselves. A number of Hoopoes
were around but never seemed to settle in an attractive setting. The afternoon
wore on and Michael still had nothing that satisfied him. He could hear
some Bee-eaters but it transpired that they were only landing on telegraph
wires or tantalizingly out of react of the 600m lens he was using. The
light was fading fast and we were about to give up. Just then a Bee-eater
settled on a dead bush but we were, of course, on the wrong side of it
and the backlit bird lacked both definition and sparkle. The bird seemed
quite unafraid now that the light had almost gone, as frustratingly often
happens. On this occasion there was just enough light for the Velvia film
he was using but it was now so flat that the result would only be a rather
dull portrait.

During the school holidays one of the things we often do in the evenings
is to leaf through books looking at the work of some of the great photojournalists
and try to understand what makes their pictures so outstanding and how
they took them. Fillflash is a commonly used technique which we had often
discussed on these occasions. When employed in the right situation it works
very effectively to open up the shadows thrown by backlighting and render
the colours rather more vibrant. Michael wondered why we couldn’t use the
technique here? Despite the fact that it is normally used with rather shorter
focal lengths than the 600 mm we felt that it was worth a try although
I was unsure exactly what the effect would be.

He mounted the SB25 flash unit directly on the Nikon F4 camera body
hot shoe and dialled in the – 1 2/3 stop compensation recommended for subtle
fillflash shots. With the negative compensation dialled into the flash
computer the effective range of the flashtube is considerably increased.
Thus, providing the subject is within this increased range, it should be
partly lit by the flash whilst the background is lit by available light.
Michael managed to fire off four or five shots before the Bee-eater flew
off. This technique certainly does work well but you must remember that
with many mammals and other nocturnal creatures there is a likelihood of
producing the animal equivalent of red eye when the flash is mounted directly
on the camera and that it may be advisable to move it off to one side by
using an off-camera flash cord.

The shot of the Bee-eater above won Michael the 15-17 year age group
prize in the competition – so he earned something and I learned something!