Working With Artificial Light
The Better Beamer is attached to my Canon 430EX External Flash unit that can provide light when you need it. They can throw light onto your subject much further then the flash was intended to be used for.
I am not a big fan of artificial light. There, I said it. Why? Without a doubt flash photography is a science onto itself and it takes lots of time, practice and study to fully understand it. While I use flash for portraits, architecture and other situations that it is needed, mixing it into my routine when photographing wildlife just doesn't appeal to me, especially if it is my main source of light.
When working with wildlife, I love to use the natural available light. It looks much more robust and if you understand the effects of exposure and light, it far provides the best results. However, several months ago I began to look into an interesting item, the Better Beamer. In a nutshell, this very inexpensive accessory that attaches to your external flash unit and really is nothing more then a fresnel lens that extends the reach of your flash greatly.
Attaching the Better Beamer is pretty easy, but then the questions come. How do you use it? What settings should you use on your flash? When should I use it? For me, I only use it in two situations. The first one is when I am photographing in very contrasty light. I set my flash unit to work as fill flash so that it lifts out the shadows and gives a more even exposure.
The second situation is when I want to change the background. Just as when you are working with your flash as you normally would, adding fill flash will often render your background black. This is a nice effect if you want to bring your subject out of the background, however you still need distance from it and your subject to effectively work.
In our first example of this Eurasian Collared Dove sitting on an iron pole, I used a Better Beamer for some fill flash. It does a few things: First, we can see more detail in the bird. Second, you get a catch-light in the eye which is always ideal. Lastly, the background becomes a bit darker, thus the subject stands out better.
Turning the fill-flash off, the first thing you will notice is the subject looks much more realistic. The colors are much warmer, and the over all feeling is one that you could say is how it looked when you were photographing your subject. Notice also we see more detail and color in the background. The catchlight is not there, however it can be added in post-proccessing if desired.
The one thing you must do however to use the Better Beamer correctly is to set your flash zoom manually for 50mm. Also note that the flash extender is designed for lenses over 300mm, although you can use it on shorter lenses. The one thing to note however is you need to be at a good distance from your subject (which is why it is recommended for lenses over 300mm). Anything closer, you will really blow out your subject so you may be better off just using your flash without the extender.
Another great tip is since you are using it for fill flash is to set your flash for ETT-L and to start at FEC -3 or -2 and check your histogram, and if necessary, make any necessary adjustments. A word of warning, however! The Better Beamer can "burn" your external flash unit. Remember, it is a fresnel lens that will act as a magnifying glass and on a sunny day, can actually damage your flash unit so you must take care to not point it directly at the sun.
Pay close attention if your composition has objects that reflect light. Here, you can clearly see that using the Better Beamer caused an unwanted reflection in the feeder making it look very unnatural. It is best to not use fill-flash here and if necessary add light using exposure compensation.
One of the biggest reasons however why I don't use flash when photographing wildlife is because the rapid light can and will spook your subjects. They will either run, fly or move away from you. It is hard enough just to get close to some subjects only to have the moment gone, literally in a flash. So for me, I will continue to work with natural light outdoors and continue to enjoy my subjects as they were meant to be!
Want to learn more about photographing wildlife? Then join me for the most comprehensive course taught on the internet about wildlife photography today! Click here to learn more about Wildlife Photography 101.
Robert La Follette
