Wildlife Photography across the Water: Night Life

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Night Life

The weather for this week looks slightly iffy with rain coming and going most days so Sunday night i set up in the hope for Fox, Opossum or Raccoon, Again i use 3 SB600 flashguns, 2 were placed in front of the camera and both to the right, 1 was placed higher than the other and then i had one at the back on the right to give some light in the background and give some depth to the image, The normal scenario is that the deer arrive around 6.30 and then the fox comes in around 6.45, If they are together the young deer tend to try to spook the fox by fake charging, sniffing or just being a pita, It was one of those nights where nothing was around by 7pm and it was deadly still, You think to yourself that its not going to happen, 7.30 comes and goes and nothing, I had seen a dog wandering in the woods during the day and guessed that the deer had fled, It was around 7.45 that i caught sight of an opossum at the far end of the garden but it crossed and kept going, Around 8pm and there was a rustle in the woods next to my house and a minute later a fox enters at the far end, Goes to each tree where i have put a few grains of food and steadily makes its way towards THE tree that i am focused on, I have 2 spot lights illuminating the garden and they give enough light to use AF so that i can recompose etc if i want to, I am using the D3s and 200-400 along with a 1.4x as i now do not have the pulling power of the D7000, I have the camera set to Q or quiet mode but the Q mode on the D3s is at least twice as loud as the D7000 and i wonder how the animals will react, I have also added diffusers to the front flashguns as the images posted before on forums had comments that the flash was a bit harsh, It was fair comment and i have diffusers by lumiquest that work pretty good, The fox came to the bait and i watched for a couple of minutes before making a tiny sound with my lips, the fox looked directly at the camera and bang, 1 image in the bag but the fox legged it back into the woodland, The noise of the camera i guess as it never did that with the D7000, A few minutes later it came back but now fed very nervously and soon ran off not returning, I didn't even try to take a shot the second time, I waited around hoping it would return and then the opossum came back into the garden and up to the bait, It didn't react to the first shot and a few minuted later i took a second and it to went and a few minutes later i called it a night, It was getting cold anyways and i do not like to stress the animals too much as i want them to be relaxed in the garden, Soon they will realize that the flash is harmless and stay, I did leave the flashguns in place and left them out there for a couple of hours incase the animals came back, It just a matter of them getting used to the flashguns being about,
You can see that the fox is dark on the left side so i will now have a flashgun on the left pointing back at the fox to light the side and give a rim effect, It all a matter of experimenting and i find it good fun as well

Dave

1 comment:

Wildlife Photographer29 February 2012 at 03:22
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.