Flash photography in Costa Rica

[Marko]

Hi there, I will be travelling to Costa Rica next April. Do you need flash for bird Photography due to the poor light in jungles or can the images be recovered and brightened later on in Lightroom or Photoshop? Just wondering what a bid deal having flash and a better Beamer would be? Big advantage or not really. I know I need flash for macro at night but not sure for birds during the day

 

[Calson]

Essential for macro photography of subjects in CR. For birds or sloths up high in the canopy flash can help but the images will have strong backlighting and so chances of success are very slim.

 

[Steve]

It can help for some subjects (macros as @Calson mentioned), but I find using it in the jungle isn't so great. Often there are branches, leaves etc. that will cast shadows onto the subject and in some cases the flash will scare them off. We've had issues with birds in the past as well as having some white-faced monkeys get really upset with the flash. While it can be useful at times, I take very few photos with flash. Even my macros are often natural light or maybe some fill with a lumicube.

 

[Walter Baliero]

I have photographed birds in different forest and jungle environments and I have never used artificial light, even in CR. Using flash in bird photography as the main light source when it is unnatural and poor invariably produces "glaucoma" in the subject's eyes, that is, turning them cyan. I only use it as a support to compensate for shadows when the dominant light is natural and enough, for example, if you are in harsh light.

 

[Marko]

Thanks Walter and I absolutely love your bird photos by the way. That is what I was asking, so there would be a time where fill flash could be useful if birds are in shadow under branches for example?

 

[Marko]

It can help for some subjects (macros as @Calson mentioned), but I find using it in the jungle isn't so great. Often there are branches, leaves etc. that will cast shadows onto the subject and in some cases the flash will scare them off. We've had issues with birds in the past as well as having some white-faced monkeys get really upset with the flash. While it can be useful at times, I take very few photos with flash. Even my macros are often natural light or maybe some fill with a lumicube.

Thanks Steve for the insight, appreciated

 

[GrandNagus50]

More than a few bird photographers have recommended high-speed-sync fill flash for bird photography in the tropics, where lighting can be particularly harsh. And no, daylight fill-flash does not harm the birds (a constant, longtime point of contention). But as cameras have advanced and good quality high ISO images have become more attainable, I see fewer and fewer people using fill flash. Glenn Bartley has long been a kind of expert on the use of fill flash and he has had participants in his workshops bring flash gear along. When I went to Costa Rica with him in 2017 he emphasized teaching fill flash technique and we utilized flash at Laguna Lagarto and Bosque de Paz lodges. But more recently (e.g., in Colombia in January 2023) he did not use flash at all, nor did anyone else.

 

[Marko]

Thanks for that. I am aware of Glen so real interesting he does not use it so much now

 

[Anjin San]

I had the same question for my trip there next summer…because I actually don’t own a flash and wondered if I should buy one for CR closeup work. I rarely do closeup so don’t have one, and spending 300 or 400 bucks and then not using it would be a bummer. Steve’s CR bag video said he carried one but rarely used it and used a reflector instead. I’m still on the fence about buying one.

Given my not having one and to date never really wanting one since I don’t do indoor and practically no closeup…is the likelihood I will need one over a reflector enough that I should buy one just in case?