Using flash on owls at night or in darkness? Not me. Not ever.
For several years Antelope Island State Park kept an old semi-trailer next to the “hay barn” they used mostly for storing junk. Barn Owls nested in the barn and one year when the youngsters fledged they often roosted in the old trailer in the daytime. The trailer was long so it was very dark in the interior, especially early in the morning when the sun rose in the east because the trailer doors opened roughly to the west.
1/100, f/8, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in
These are three of those young owls in the trailer, though there were actually five of them in there (I posted a photo of four of them about a year ago). The whitewash-encrusted metal testifies to how often they used this sanctuary as a roosting site.
The black background and my sluggish shutter speed are evidence of how dark it was in there. Sometimes my SS was only 1/60 sec or slower, even with my f/4 lens and my teleconverter removed. Under these conditions many bird photographers would use flash.
But I never flash birds and I didn’t this time.
At night or in darkness flash often causes a form of functional blindness when the photoreceptor cells in the retina become instantly saturated and it can take 30 seconds or significantly longer for them to recover and the bird to regain its eyesight. If the owl is startled by the sudden very bright light and takes off when it can’t see the potential consequences are obvious and can be catastrophic for the bird.
Besides, flashing owls (or any wildlife for that matter) at night is just plain rude! If you wouldn’t do it to someone you respect why on earth would you do it to an owl? At least human photo subjects can usually anticipate the flash and prepare for it but birds cannot.
No matter what our motives are – if we just want to get a “lifer” for our photo portfolio or we’re trying to impress our friends on social media or we see $ signs when we lead photo tours with paying clients or as in my case when I’m trying to provide interesting and quality photos for readers who follow my bird photography blog – the welfare of the bird should always come before the needs/wants of the photographer.
In my opinion there should be no exceptions, except occasionally for professional researchers who flash birds at night for studies that could potentially be of benefit to birds. And even that’s a little ‘iffy’…
Ron
Fantastic shot Ron!
That photo is sooo beautiful!! I agree about flash and birds. I would never want to hurt the bird. Plus it looks phony most of the time!
Absolutely stunning image! Although I have seen Barn Owls, I have never had a photo opportunity. I have heard them and found fresh feathers and pellets. In New Mexico I came upon some kids with very strong floodlights watching a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, which seemed to be paralyzed on its perch. Probably safer than if it dashed off into the forest, but I wonder how long it took for it to recover its sight.
A wonderful image, it shows what can be done. I concur with your sentiments and ethics and wish they were more widely observed.
So do I, Gary. Thank you.
Ron, I hope that your comments along with many readers of your blog, will make someone who uses flash on birds/animals aware of the consequences to the birds.
Your owls have unique and curious faces.
Thank you for your high ethics. I’m sure you have someone in your past life that has given you a wonderful gift – high ethics.
I hope so too, Alice. Thank you.
Well, now I can feel guilty for any damage that I have done. 🙁 In 2005, I took many photos in my Kansas granary over a period of ten days. However, I didn’t use the flash more than a few times. I had a 2.5 megalumen flashlight that basically made daylight in an otherwise pitch dark granary. The flashlight was on continually, so no flashing, and it illuminated the five barn owls sufficiently for my camera to get some nice photos. The owls practically posed for me, much like your three owls here. I hope the steady flashlight illumination wasn’t a hazard for my owl buddies. They waited for me, night after night, around midnight, and posed on the rafters so gracefully. After ten days of their cooperation, I felt I needed to offer them a kindness. In the circle of life, mice are a staple in the owl diet, and there was a pet store thirty miles away that had feeder mice. Yes, the mice had to die, but they were raised for snake food and instead I purchased them for owls. I did not light up the granary with more than a side exposure to my car headlights. I gently tossed the ten mice, one at a time, onto the straw bed where they began to walk around and explore, oblivious to the owls above, which I couldn’t see either. None of the owls came down to get a meal, and I thought perhaps they weren’t hungry. Then I presumed I was standing too close to the large granary door, where they could certainly see me. I walked about twenty yards away from the door and waited. Within a few seconds, I could see an owl swooping down from a rafter, nowhere near the ground, and flying directly toward me. He flew a couple feet above me and dropped something from his talons that landed on my shoulder and then onto the ground. I shown my small flashlight on the object; it was a stiff, dead mouse. It was mouse jerky. I can only assume that the owl wanted to give me something for the mice I brought to all of them. The owl was smart enough to know I would be unable to catch a live mouse, so he brought me mouse jerky. That is my belief and I have no reason to doubt that the owl was showing me a kindness. In the thirteen years since, sadly, the granary has fallen apart and been town down. However, despite the economic cost to me, I left the large barn standing, providing habitat for several different raptors, including barn owls, Kestrels, and Turkey vultures. I hope many owls will continue to use my barn with no flash photography. Thank you so much for your continuing education for all photographers.
Interesting story, Miriam. I too love photographing owls in very old barns and granaries, Great Horned Owls in particular. The granaries where those owls reside is too far north for Barn Owls.
The pictured is great. I just love the face of a Barn Owl.
Thanks, Jean.
Absolutely stunning! I have never been fortunate enough to see these strangely beautiful birds in the wild and probably never will. But seeing them through your capture is so reassuring knowing the ethical practice you use. Your photo, showing them without the weird flash lights in their eyes, is simply put…perfection. They each are stars. Thank you for being the type of photographer you are
I used to see them more often than I do now, Kathy, especially during winter. Thank you.
Hi Ron .. isn’t there suppose to be a light that birds can’t see . Like they use on nest cams??? Love your pictures !!!
Thanks, Marina.
Absolutely great shot!
Nice to know I’m not in the minority on this blog for not using flash on wildlife. Never have and never will! Besides being rude it is highly inappropriate and unkind to over-charge their photoreceptor cells. If it is too dark to take the image using the technology (without flash) of present day camera bodies then DON’T take the picture!
That’s my philosophy too, Dick. Leave them in peace in the dark.
A pox on those who flash or otherwise disturb wildlife!!!!! Growl, hiss, spit, and rabid bite!!!!! As always, I’m a fan as much for your ethics as for delightful shots like these.
Thank you, Marty.
Thank you for your kindness to other beings! With all permits in place, I am caretaker of an unreleasable disabled Barn Owl. He really is the most alien creature I’ve ever known. and he seems to regard me the same way.
Yup, they’re pretty strange birds but there’s nothing wrong with strange! Thanks, Mikal.
Such beautiful creature – never been fortunate to see them in person.
Just wondering, is that a fourth bird behind centre and right? Looks like another one or two hidden there.
Thank you for sharing your photos and wisdom.
Yes, there’s two more youngsters back there where they can barely be seen. Good eye, Donna.
Barn owls – I have to live through you on this one Ron. Agreed with others…this I think looks better w/out a flash. They are such interesting creatures…almost alien looking.
Yes, they are kind of bizarre looking. Gotta love them though. Thanks, Zaph.
I was recently on a bird tour with a well known and respected tour company. I was surprised and disappointed that one of the guides used flash on the owls we saw at night. Sure his pictures looked a bit better than mine. Maybe due to his experience with night photography. But it did make me sad as he probably does this on many tours with the same birds.
Lots of tour guides promote flashing owls at night, including around here, Joan. With a half-dozen or more paying clients using flash I can imagine how confusing and disorienting it must be for the bird.
Love your Barn Owl Photo!! Katherine McKeever, founder of The Owl Foundation in Canada, said that using flashes on birds was cruel and, if too many photos are taken with a flash they will actually burn the bird’s retinas! Thank you for addressing this and reminding us that using a flash is not only rude but harmful.
I can imagine how that might happen, Melanie.
Such wonderful work, Ron. Thank you for caring for the birds.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I’m very sensitive to light. Thanks for this reminder to be responsible when taking photos. And I love that image.
I’m sensitive to it too, Arwen – a curse associated with my blue eyes. Thank you.
Ethical bird photography at it’s finest, thank you, Ron! How I would love to see a Barn Owl in the “wild”. We are just a bit too far north of its range. I have seen one in its nestbox at Jamaica Bay NWR but a crow came along and drove it back inside!
Thanks, Deb. Part of the reason Barn Owls aren’t found very far north is because they’re generally non-migratory. The Barn Owl I cut out of barbed wire in southwest Montana was one of the very few that had ever been seen in that state.
Great photos Ron…and I agree the welfare of the birds or other wildlife subjects should be first in consideration…I do not use flash either..I think your shot is better because you used no flash…your ethics are one of the reasons I enjoy your blog and photos so much…Thank you again…you are truly a teacher..
“I think your shot is better because you used no flash”
So do I, Steve. Flash is difficult to use skillfully so that the lighting doesn’t look artificial because it removes natural shadows. It also does funky things to the eyes. I appreciate your comment.
Beautiful photo Ron. Love the contrast between the owls and the solid black background. Have never taken photos of birds in the dark and agree that one should not disturb them with flash photography.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Thanks, Everett. Good!
Great photo, great philosophy!
Thanks, Nancy.
OHHHH! What a beautiful shot of the owls! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Barn owls are the strangest looking of the owls at times not looking “real”! 😉 There would certainly be more background showing had you used flash and I don’t think the photo would have been near as good besides being a rotten thing to do to the birds! 🙁 Besides the “rude” thing glad you provide your reasons for NOT using it for those who don’t “think about it” as I’m sure some don’t tho they should if they have ever had flash used on them! 😉 The others who just don’t care are another story!
Thank you, Judy. As you mention some photographers use flash on birds at night out of ignorance (part of the reason for this post – hopefully a little “enlightenment”) but many others just can’t see past the dollar signs and the “glory” of paying clients, sold prints and the “ooh and aah” comments on their photos in social media.