Some of the best wildlife photography I’ve seen couldn’t have been done without a flash. Of course, that’s only the technical part of it. The bigger has to do with location, timing, and sometimes just stupid luck on top of technical know-how. It’s often very much about capturing a moment than creating it at times. In several of those situations, the photographers are using natural lighting and local knowledge to make the images they yield. Often it can prevent scary moments from happening. But is it really all that unethical?
A BBC article states that wildlife photographers should move toward LED lights instead of using flash. “There were signs that said ‘No Flash’, and the volunteer guides did what they could to educate the visitors, but the relentless explosions of light continued throughout the evening,” states Doug Gimesy, the author of the article. “Bothering me in the distance, I could only wonder what it must have been like for these little penguins close up.” He continues to talk about various other situations, such as underwater flash, etc. Of course, there’s lots of situations where Wildlife Photography with Flash is questionable, but also perfectly fine.
I’m not going to call myself an expert in wildlife photography, but I’ve got over a decade of experience in the running and photography of community gardens, strobe, etc. I think that many considerations should be taken into account. And often, it has to do with the species itself. However, if rules around the area that you’re photographing call for no flash photography, then you should abide by those laws no matter what.
How Used to Human Contact Are These Animals?
Lots of photographers like to say that real wildlife photography can’t be done in big cities. But this comes from a gatekeeping mindset. We can’t deny the fact that most of the world’s population lives in big city centers. With this fact in mind, it’s obvious then that wildlife will live around us. Bears and elk are around humans because of the easy food that we make readily available. That line of thought applies also to things like pigeons, rats, coyotes, etc. These animals then attract things like hawks, falcons, raptors, etc.
Because they’re around humans, these animals will be far more used to human contact than the remaining polar bears of northern Canada would be. Arguably, those animals rely on humans for their ecosystem to flourish.
Considering this fact, those animals will be then more used to the artificial lights we create with technology. And in big cities, biking has become more commonplace. Bikes, at night, sometimes have flashing lights to ensure that people can clearly see them. In many cases, those animals will be used to both constant and strobing lights.
Sometimes, they’ll be a bit perturbed, but they’ll get used to it
While testing the Sony a9 III, I used the shutter speed to completely eliminate the ambient light in my photos. Then, I did wildlife photography with a flash by syncing the flash up to the exposure. That’s the only way I was able to create the lead image. The birds were a bit offended by the flash at first. But then they realized that it was far less scary than humans being visible. They continued to eat from my bird feeder. That’s the only way that I was able to get the images I did.
Underwater: a Different Story
With underwater photography, much of what we’ve been able to see hasn’t been possible without strobes or flashes. We know this because of the many photographers we’ve talked to in the past. For example, Ken Kiefer couldn’t make images of sharks without them. A photographer like Lucas Traurig also couldn’t make the images of sea horses that he’s made. And the same could be said for someone like Tyson Ringinger.
You might wonder why they need flash and can’t just crank up the ISO and use an LED. Well, quick spots of flashes are more common underwater than giant LED lights. Additionally, flashes are just more powerful for the value.
In Cities with More Common Animals
For what it’s worth, I learned how to photograph Monarch Butterflies early on in my photography career by going to a place where they got all the food they needed. While doing this, I learned that I could get close as long as I moved really slowly and controlled my breathing. If I moved quickly at them, then I’d scare the poor things away. But they also never minded the flash.
Truly, again, I think it has to do with how often these animals have human contact and the local laws. Flash shouldn’t necessarily be used all the time when there’s a lack of lighting. It can be used for creative expression — and that’s just fine. However, if you’re using flash, you should really just fire one frame a second and not use it as a replacement for a machine gun.
Think of it this way: if you’re at an event and a photographer comes up to you to shoot a photograph, think about what’s worse. Is them bouncing flash output off of the ceiling better for your eyes, or a lot of direct, bright LED light? I don’t know about you, but I hate having a bright light shone in my face.
Wildlife Photography with Flash In Cities with Lesser-Seen Animals
If the animals don’t have much contact with humans, I think you should probably minimize the use of flash. To be very frank, you really just have to get good at shooting photos. If you’re not confident in your skills with a flash and getting the image you want, then don’t bother.
This obviously applies to the suburbs, rural areas, safari, etc. As it is, you’re probably disturbing the wildlife in their natural environment.
That’s really it when it comes to ethics.