FINCHforum

Is it bad for birds?
Should I take pictures without flash?

hi pinson
i use a flash sometimes... usually with birds that i know are used to me and don't scare easily. with more nervous birds, i don't use a flash i find that most of the time i really don't need the flash though... i try to take pictures during the day when there's lots of light!

I take photos both with flash and without, and I don't see any problem with the birds. I even take flash photos of hatchlings.

Everything I've read seems to indicate that the flash of a camera is too short of a duration to cause any permanent damage to the bird's eye. To be honest, I don't know if enough research has been done to support this. I do know that research has been done to show that some birds (canaries are one) have ten times as many light receptors in their eyes as humans have. Just to be safe, I try to keep flash photography to a minimum and avoid it with newly hatched chicks and newly opened eyes. Bob

I use flash, I think it brings out the bird's colors.

I've used both although I try to take pics without a flash first. As the others have said it also depends on which birds I'm photgraphing as some aer quite happy with the camera and some are quite skittish.