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extender

Benefits of Using a Flash Extender

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Flash ExtenderNote from the editor (Steve): This is a post by our newest writer: Robert Visconti. He primarily photographs wildlife (especially birds), and he’s got some really cool ideas for DIY projects and optimizing your camera gear. In this post, he talks about using flash extenders and how to make one work better.

A flash extender is just that: it extends the flash’s output to a much greater distance by using a Fresnel lens. A flash without the extender literally “floods” the entire subject area with light. The extender takes this conical shape of light and concentrates it into a beam, hence its name. [Read more…] about Benefits of Using a Flash Extender

How Do You Know When to Upgrade Your Equipment?

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For the past several years my main bird photography equipment has been one of Canon’s xxD bodies (30D, 40D, 50D and the recent 7D) along with either the Canon 400mm f/5.6L or the Canon 300mm f/4L IS. Sometimes I’ve also used these lenses with the Canon 1.4x Extender.

Both of these lenses offer superb image quality with impeccable sharpness. But, there have been times over the last few years when I missed out on photo opportunities because neither one of these lenses would perform adequately.

What kind of conditions am I talking about? When there’s poor lighting and little time to get the shot. The photo below is a good example. It’s a shot of an adult Red-shouldered Hawk that was taken very late in the afternoon. The sky was heavily overcast, causing some dim lighting conditions. [Read more…] about How Do You Know When to Upgrade Your Equipment?