These are long-tongued bats I photographed at night in the Costa Rican jungle with a photo tour group. We set up two flash units and an electric beam in front of the flower. Using a syringe, we injected nectar into the flower to attracts the bats. When a bat broke the beam, the flashes fired. It was pitch black in the thick vegetation, and yet the bats with their echolocation could fly with remarkable speed and not collide with anything. The only time we could see anything was when the flash units triggered. The shutter speed didn't help determine the exposure. It was simply set to be open long enough to catch a bat breaking the beam. It was the lens aperture, flash-to-subject distance, and the ISO that determined the correct exposure. My settings, based on tests, were 2.0 seconds, f/13, and 500 ISO.
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