Posted by Ed Williams on September 18, 2012 at 1:11 PM
I recently received an email from an NPN viewer who asked the following question.
Is it Ethical to use A flash on animals at night, especially nocturnal animals,birds, bats etc.
That is a really good, thought provoking question.
It will create some level of stress for the animals that are flashed, at least as much as a car's headlights when an animal or bird comes across a road, in my opinion.
It could also create temporary blindness in the animal and may interfere with its ability to find its food, or get away from a predator. Maybe not so much for bats since they use sonar to detect their prey, but they are very sensitive to light, so it would create stress for them.
I would at least try to limit the number of times any animal is subjected to flash photography at night.
Not really a direct answer, but it is definitely something to consider in photography.
Discussion
0 repliesIs it Ethical to use A flash on animals at night, especially nocturnal animals,birds, bats etc.
That is a really good, thought provoking question.
It will create some level of stress for the animals that are flashed, at least as much as a car's headlights when an animal or bird comes across a road, in my opinion.
It could also create temporary blindness in the animal and may interfere with its ability to find its food, or get away from a predator. Maybe not so much for bats since they use sonar to detect their prey, but they are very sensitive to light, so it would create stress for them.
I would at least try to limit the number of times any animal is subjected to flash photography at night.
Not really a direct answer, but it is definitely something to consider in photography.