Wildlife Photography!

[skinheaddave]

[/COLOR]Almost forgot: anyone have a DIY option for ring flash or a means to convert an old flash to be used w/o it being mounted on the hot shoe?

A few options here.

For the ring flash, you can make a ring of LEDs and a small battery pack. Creates a constant source of light rather than a flash, but you can get adequate results depending on your subject and lense.

You can take a conventional flash and redirect it. You can make it act a bit like a ring flash, but I think you will always get some bias towards the edge where the flash originates. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as ring flashes can end up being too even for wildlife photography and you get a sort of unnatural lack of shadow.

In terms of triggering a flash without a hotshoe, you can get or make triggers that work off another flash. The problem is you still have to have the initial flash which might either get in the way or, at very least, run down your batteries. If you have the hotshoe, you can either take the connection point off the bottom of your flash and extend it with wire or make an extension cord. I have a little spiral cord that is attached to the hotshoe off of a $2 junk camera I bought on one end and the attachment point of an old dead flash I had on the other. I use it for a hand-held flash sometimes in the field. Just be sure that the trigger voltage on your flash isn't too high for your camera. I generally use flashes <5V to be on the safe side.

Oh, and once I made a fitting out of tin that took the mounted flash off my camera and redirected it out along the lense and then down in a sort of ring flash setup. It was a real nice setup but a bugger to take off and put back on again .. not a problem if you have a separate camera with you to take pictures of the deer and stuff and only want to take macro shots with your one setup. This was when I had an Olympus C4000 ... that I bought new in the shops (that will date it).

Cheers,
Dave

 

[zonbonzovi]

Thanks, Dave. That sounds about right. With a very small distance to subject, built in flash is usless and the lens blocks out nearly all light sources. The LED ring could easily be attached to lens adapter with a long lead to keep the battery pack out of the way:

http://www.amazon.com/Raynox-Macro-Scan-Conversion-Universal-Diameters/dp/B000A1SZ2Y

Are there crucial differences between LEDs in power/how much light is emitted? I've used the mini LED flashlights as a light source before, but the result was still too grainy.

I almost think a secondary flash unit or the slave option might work better, don't know why I didn't consider it before. I swear I've tried almost every conventional form of household lighting & rarely does it work out.

(Saunters off toward workshop)

A few options here.

For the ring flash, you can make a ring of LEDs and a small battery pack. Creates a constant source of light rather than a flash, but you can get adequate results depending on your subject and lense.

You can take a conventional flash and redirect it. You can make it act a bit like a ring flash, but I think you will always get some bias towards the edge where the flash originates. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as ring flashes can end up being too even for wildlife photography and you get a sort of unnatural lack of shadow.

In terms of triggering a flash without a hotshoe, you can get or make triggers that work off another flash. The problem is you still have to have the initial flash which might either get in the way or, at very least, run down your batteries. If you have the hotshoe, you can either take the connection point off the bottom of your flash and extend it with wire or make an extension cord. I have a little spiral cord that is attached to the hotshoe off of a $2 junk camera I bought on one end and the attachment point of an old dead flash I had on the other. I use it for a hand-held flash sometimes in the field. Just be sure that the trigger voltage on your flash isn't too high for your camera. I generally use flashes <5V to be on the safe side.

Oh, and once I made a fitting out of tin that took the mounted flash off my camera and redirected it out along the lense and then down in a sort of ring flash setup. It was a real nice setup but a bugger to take off and put back on again .. not a problem if you have a separate camera with you to take pictures of the deer and stuff and only want to take macro shots with your one setup. This was when I had an Olympus C4000 ... that I bought new in the shops (that will date it).

Cheers,
Dave

 

[skinheaddave]

Are there crucial differences between LEDs in power/how much light is emitted?

Man, you've just asked for a course in electrical engineering. There are all sorts of LED technologies and setups and drivers etc. They are way more complex than simply running a bit of current through a wire in a vacuum.

In general, though, if you use standard 5mm white LEDs and run them towards the high end of their voltage/amperage specs then you should do all right for output. I agree, though, that a secondary flash might be the way to go with a diffuser. Whether you point the flash towards with a DIY "softbox" or away and reflected off a hood will depend on your preferences and experimentation.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[What]

Almost forgot: anyone have a DIY option for ring flash or a means to convert an old flash to be used w/o it being mounted on the hot shoe?

This build is by far the best I have seen...

http://fuzzcraft.com/ringlight4-0.html

My personal plan is to do something similar with this...I just have not gotten around to it.

 

[fartkowski]

 

[zonbonzovi]

This build is by far the best I have seen...

http://fuzzcraft.com/ringlight4-0.html

My personal plan is to do something similar with this...I just have not gotten around to it.

Thanks, Kevin. I'm a little wary of the power draw on the battery, but this seems appliccable to a standalone light source as well, which sometimes I prefer over flash anyway. Never considered fiber optics...this opens up a lot of interesting possibilities.

 

[skinheaddave]

If you start to play with LEDs, there is a good calculator here: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Crysta]

lol im not using a flash yet so its grainy

 

[fartkowski]

 

[Nerri1029]

NICE SHOT
What lens?

 

[fartkowski]

I believe it was a nikon 300 zoom lens.

---------- Post added at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 AM ----------

 

[Nerri1029]

Chris, do you have a polarizing filter? ever try one? I've used one once or twice near water and it does make a difference, esp when you have that much light available.
I'm only assuming there wasn't one... if there was.. then ignore

 

[fartkowski]

Hi
We do have one, but haven't used it too much.
I think a trip to the park is coming soon

---------- Post added at 12:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 AM ----------

 

[zonbonzovi]

 

[pronty]

May 2002.

---------- Post added at 08:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 PM ----------

July 2001.

 

[fartkowski]

 

[spider]

Having let me get within under two feet from him, this American Alligator (whom was around 3 ft. long) photo was taken in the wild, in the backwaters of the Ross Barnett Reservoir with a 50mm prime lens.

edit: I must add I used a promaster 7500edf external flash, bare, at 35mm and 1/8 power to fill in the shadows. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't behind me.

Shot - 3/20/2011

 

[fartkowski]

 

[dragonblade71]

Awesome shot of a gator, Spider. And dangerously close!

Here's one of mine.....

[/url]
pelican in flight by dragonblade712003, on Flickr[/IMG]

An Australian pelican in flight. Incidentally, this is the largest species of pelican in the world, and has the longest beak of any bird in the world.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

The white on the bug came out a tad glary no matter how much I tinkered with things; super sunny day, probably needed a "shade" if I was a serious photographer