Adjustments using flash with my 600mm for wildlife

[Morlin]

Hi.

I´m a beginner when it comes to use a flash when taking pictures of animals. Actually I have almost none experience at all using the speedlites. So at this point adjustments and all is new to me.

A while ago I bought a Better beamer for my Canon 580ex ii and yesterday I received a Wimberley flash bracket to mount on my gimbal head so now I´m ready to practise and learn.

How do you do it? Any recommendations? Should I use only manual settings on the camera or should I do my best to optimize the speedlite? Maybe both?

Normally when I don´t use the flash I use aperture priority and combine that with adjusting the ISO to keep the shutter speed up and the "exposure compensation" if I need to brighten or darken the picture. If I´m walking around in the forrest or the light is changing it can be tricky to go all manual. If an animal is standing in the shadows and the second after takes a step out in sunlight it can be hard to be as quick as needed if I only used manual settings for wildlife so that´s why I use AV and use biggest aperture possible. Maybe you have better options for this as well?

I use a Canon 5d mk3 together with a Canon 600mm f/4l is ii. I´m still learning how to use the 600mm also. Both when it comes to handling the size and weight and also doing my best to learn how to make the best adjustments in camera and lens.

Excuse any bad grammar or spelling =)

Appreciate any recommendations.

Regards / J

 

[sanj]

I have the exact same questions. Few tips which I have learnt:
1. Keep the flash on 'high burst' to sync with fast fps shooting.
2. Keep the flash output to less than 50% for it not only to sync but also to recharge fast enough.

 

[FEBS]

No practical experience yet with the better Beamer. I need to test it urgently. I did found however following interesting link that I want to share:

http://vogelfotografien.wordpress.com/flash-photography/

 

[mackguyver]

Make sure it's not mounted on the camera or reflective eyes (red eye, green eye, yellow eye, etc.) will ruin the shot. I use a off-flash cable and hand hold. A off-camera flash mount is a better idea that most people use. I set the zoom to 50mm (or whatever they recommend, can't remember at the moment) and use TTL with a bit higher ISO to reduce flash power. I generally have to adjust flash exposure compensation to get the look I'm going for when I use it.

The other thing to remember is to use caution with the Better Beamer. It will melt or burn you and your gear if you get it out in the sun, and very quickly.

Here's a recent shot using the BB at around 50 yards. I shot the same owl a week earlier without flash and was using ISO 3200+ to get a decent shot, but struggled due to the bright sky behind the bird.