Scaly-breasted munia
Sometime last week I acquired SB800 Speed light but it was only yesterday that I could take it out for a real field test and I am pleased with the results – the flash can indeed reach the distances given by the Guide Numbers. This shot of Scaly-breasted Munia was one of the pictures taken yesterday. The sky was heavily overcast and there was a slight drizzle. Without the flash all I would have got would be dark shapes!!
Anyway no more excuses like “I indeed wanted the bird to be back-lit” or “Dude, thats rim lighting – the bird is not meant to be visible” 
However rim lighting still remains my favorite for most of my models and perhaps thats got something to do with my models…
I also tried to get this lens, yes has the same one, but both the pieces which the dealer got would not play with my TC20e II (no autofocus – menus jumping etc) – anyone with more info on how to mate the two properly would be welcome. For now I have given up on trying to get a longer focal length – correctly mentioned that it is time Nikon had a decent offering in the 500mm f4 range like Canon does.
Talking about not playing well, yesterday I changed my LJ style from the old S1 to an S2 -to my surprise most S2 styles get messed up if you have a picture in your post which is taller than the text of your post – may be just like the lens + tele-convertor I am missing something with the styles as well.
good one! where did you find the birds ?
Got them at the market, then fixed them with a wee bit of super glue to a branch in front of a green backdrop and took the picture
He he! they are fairly common birds… atleast where we live
<br clear=”all”> fixes the tall image problem.
maybe that’s both and not all. i don’t remember
Probably it will – but again a totally unnecessary additional hassle…
I use the TC20e II and it works very well with the lenses (mine and kallu’s), though I think Kallu had the problem once of menus flashing and AFS not working, but on replacing the TC, it seemed to work properly. So, maybe the problem is with the TC?
Btw, the link to my lens is bad …
http://bythom.com/300AFSlens.htm
Thanks for the correction on the link – TC20e II I have works perfectly with the 70-200VR (same lens as Kallu’s) so I have asked for a different piece however I am now having second thoughts about getting the 300mm – but then there is nothing good and affordable in the 500mm range
I will prob pick up this flash unit sometime soon as well. If you master flash, you can really do some amazing wildlife photography
I see that you, like me, have no qualms about flashing at wildlife – Some guys are pretty shy about it
I personally think Michael Nichols is the best wildlife photographer out there and till date I have not seens a single shot where he has not used the flash.
I 100% agree on this