A morning walk with the Better Beamer

[Ironwood]

I put the Tamron 150-600 and Yongnou 568 and the Better Beamer on the D7100 this morning and went for a walk in the backyard.
There was probably enough light for most of the shots, but with the strong side lighting it came in handy for some fill light at times.
I don't see these Rainbow Bee-eater's often at my place, so it was a surprise to see about a dozen of them working the trees near my shed.
Wasn't easy to get a clear shot of them, as they were quite high up, and constantly on the go.

[Ironwood]

Wompoo Pigeon.

[Ironwood]

And some Butterflies...

[Ironwood]

.......

[Ironwood]

This one didn't like staying still for more than a second at a time.

[seaslug]

Nice shots, but I have no idea what a 'better beamer' is.

[Ironwood]

Thanks Greg. The BB is a flash extender, mounts onto your speedlight and holds a fresnel lens which focuses the flash light into a beam. Enables you to light a subject up to 30 or 40 meters out. Takes a bit of getting used to, but can be a handy bit of gear.

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Gee Whiz mate - what a great collection of images ... and such a versatile range from closeup to high in the trees
10/10 from me

Phil

[Ironwood]

Cheers Phil. Because of my work, I don't get to enjoy my backyard in the mornings very often, so it was great to be out there, the photos are just a bonus.

[millicat]

So I clicked on the post and fiddling around with something else then looked back at the screen and it was filled with a lovely array of colours ...the blue and yellow really make nice on monitor. LOVE the first two shots of the butterfly ... beautiful shots all round and now I know what a better beamer is too.

[Ironwood]

Thanks Anna. I have decided I will use the Better Beamer more often on my walks, the colours are boosted with some extra light. These are all handheld at 600mm and 1/250th shutter speed, I cant do that without the flash.

[seaslug]

Thanks Brad, I remember you mentioning it once before now. It certainly lifts those subjects in the trees. Well done.

[Ironwood]

I learnt about them from Avkomp, he uses one to good effect on his Owls etc. If you are shooting 300mm+ in less than ideal conditions, they are worth looking into. I got mine from the US for about 80 bucks. The bird photos above were all from around 20-30 meters away, while the Butterflies were 4-5 meters from the lens.

[Toddyh]

I had no idea what a better beamer was either. Now I do so thanks Brad.

[avkomp]

good result on these despite the angles. can look into making your own too, used to be able to get those full page magmifiers from a stationery or newsagent.
cut the centre out and some arms from a bit of heavy plastic or similar.
a better beamer is a flash extender. cant speak for the newer flashes, but the sb800 has the ability to zoom up to 105mm, so if you have longer focal length on than that , you are throwing light out the sides and illuminating a bigger area than your lens sees..the beamer focuses your flash so the beam is tigher and goes further. or up close gives you a quicker follow up shot.
you might think of a garden sprinker throwing water in a wide circle goes say 2m but if you narrow the steam down it goes 5 or more. same deal really

[millicat]

Thanks for the info Stephen, am googling now to see the DIY version. I did look online at the magmod after my above post and seems a bit out of my budget. I have not taken photos of bugs and buzzys for a long time.