wilsondring

Dear all,

Over the last weekend, i was at TPK and photograghed some tristram's bunting near the top of the hill near the entrance of one of the residential houses.

With me was my wife and one other birder at the time.  I had consulted the birder and without any objection, i use a flash angled up into the trees at 60 degrees plus (away from the birds) and took about 30-35 shots before leaving.

Firstly, the birds were the priority and i am sure they were not slightest bit disturbed as they gave no reaction what-so-ever when to my inital shot and i took the procuation of directing the flash away from the birds.

Secondly, i had consulted the follow birder and only with his consent did i proceed.

I posted the photos on facebook and had some questions and comments regarding the use of flash.

Since, i have searched the interent for guidelines for members of HKBWS as well as other organizations on the use of flash photography.  The official line is i found was;
"Use flash sparingly."
Some other organizations say talk about not using flash on nesting birds etc ...

By no means am i suggesting that the use of flash should be encouraged but would like to;
1/ find out the stance on the use of flash by the HKBWS
2/ the effect of the use of flash on birds in general

Please understand that on this occassion the birds were ok but iam not suggesting thatthiswill always be the case and wouldmlike to find out more hence this post...

Please discuss ...

wilsondring

For the crested bunting a few weeks back .. OMG!!!  Chasing the bird down to within 4-5m ... The most i would go is 6m coz my minimal focal distance on my 800mm is 6m LOL

On a serous note, yes, that sort of disturbance is an outrage, many of those chasing the birds down that day are regulars here on this forum too

wilsondring

Quote:

Original posted by handrew at 18/02/2013 21:04
There are people who believe that using flash is wrong under any circumstances and there are responsible photographers who think and assess the situation and come to a (hopefully) sensible decision. Y ...

i am fully expecting to be flamed but i do hope to put out the flame with common sense ..

wilsondring

More on owls than birds in general but an interesting read ...
http://photo.net/learn/nature/owlflash

And .. Another ariticle but not exactly hard evidence ..
http://www.dmcphoto.com/Articles/Flash/index.html

[ Last edited by wilsondring at 19/02/2013 17:43 ]

wilsondring

considering how much reaction one gets while in the field, i am somewhat surprised by the lack of interest or opinions on this thread ...

sorry to be shit stirring, i am really trying to get some sense out of this ..

wilsondring

thank you every much for all the input .. however, when someone say that "flash is harmful to the human eye ... " can we give some evidence to back this up, maybe a link to where you found this information etc would be useful.  thanks

wilsondring

i think the last few posts has just about killed this thread .. haha ..