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romy ocon | all galleries >> Wild Birds of the Philippines (Photos) >> My Favorites >> Spotted Wood-Kingfishers > IMG_2371.JPG
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14-NOV-2004

IMG_2371.JPG

Spotted Wood-kingfisher
(a Philippine endemic, male)

Scientific name - Actenoides lindsayi

Habitat - Fairly common in lowland forest understory, perches motionless in dark recesses.

Canon EOS 20D
1/100s f/5.6 at 400.0mm iso3200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Marijn 15-Nov-2004 12:46
Hi Romy, what a big difference!
In my opinion, one should use the flash as little as possible in bird photography. Pics without flash are indeed far more natural. I think the natural colours and 'atmosphere' are much more important than that little bit of extra sharpness and detail. Moreover, in quite a lot of pics taken with flash, the eyes of the bird come out very dull and oddly coloured. This is also clearly demonstrated in these kingfisher pics. In the flash pic the pupil is lighter coloured then the iris, making the eye almost look like it's from a dead bird, while in this pic the bird is curiously looking at the viewer with a nice light sparkle in the corner of its eye.
However, I do know that it can be really dark in the Philippine jungle (or what is left of it..), so in some cases the flash will be indispensable.
Cheerz,
Marijn
romy ocon14-Nov-2004 22:40
This and the following pic are shots of the same bird, taken seconds apart. They illustrate the bird photographer's dilemma of whether or not to use flash. This pic was taken hand held, using ambient light. It has more natural colors but less details, more noise and some camera shake. The next pic utilized a flash. It has more details, is sharper but the colors are not natural.

Whenever the bird allows me, I now take a flashed shot first as insurance, then take several pics in ambient light to come out with colors as seen in real life.

Cheers.
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