Using Flash to Dramatic Effect for Crisp Photos of Feeding Birds
Believe it or not, these shots were captured in a regular New Jersey backyard and in broad daylight
In November and December of every year, I spend some time with the birds that visit my parents’ bird-feeder in southern New Jersey. This “tradition” started around five years ago and with each consecutive year I’ve refined my bird-feeder photography.
My father, who is also a nature photographer, had the idea to attach a natural perch to the feeder for the birds to land on. This provided us a great setting for the bird photographs and allowed us to somewhat predict their location and movements. We adjusted the lighting accordingly.
Painting with Light
First we modified the light by adding in a reflector in the foreground. Since the location of the feeder and our position comfortably inside the house put the sun behind the birds this was initially not the ideal lighting. By adding in the reflector we were able to create much more pleasing lighting for the feeder birds. I should also mention that the background we would usually achieve were some dark bushes across the yard that were always in shade thus giving us a very dark almost black background naturally.
After a year or two I decided to start adding in a single flash to my bird feeder photography. I had seen this done before to great effect and thought it would be fun. While I got some different looking photos it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Another year passed and thanks to my job as a wedding photographer my flash lighting skills increased dramatically.
The winter of 2013 was the first year I tried using three flashes to create much more dramatic images and finally I was getting the results that I was looking for.
The lighting setup generally consisted of two flashes on stands positioned behind and to the side of the intended bird perch. A third flash was positioned in the front and to the side to add in some slight fill light.
Another year in and I have really been able to dial in the lighting I want to create a very dramatic photo of the regular backyard birds that visit my parent’s feeder.
During my most recent attempt there was a light rain all day which helped to create even more interesting photos. Below are a selection of some of my favorites from the past few years of using flash photography with birds.
All of the photos were taken mostly in the middle of the day and sometimes in full sunlight. I find that the lighting and stark black background really show some of the personality that these birds tend to exhibit and I hope you can see that too.
