Seeking advice for how to take night-time "ambush" flash photos of animals

[Gavjenks]

This is just a whimsical photoshoot idea I thought I might try: Set up one or more flash units along a game trail or something, with remote triggers, hide somewhere nearby with a good composition through the lens, wait until an animal comes by, and "ambush" photograph it with nice lighting, etc. from the flashes, getting the shot before it has time to react. Thus getting a nice candid night photograph (and different kidns of animals than seen during day).

Problem is: it takes awhile to get a hit on your setup, and the animal then of course then runs away, plus you scare off everything in the area. So only one chance to get it right.

I already have the equipment left over from other things. My questions are strategy ones:
1) What sort of lighting arrangement would probably be good for flash-based nighttime portraiture of a deer or fox or raccoon etc.? Assume either 1 flash on camera and one off, OR two off-camera flashes. I have basic experience with studio portraits of humans and so forth, but this is obviously very different, and I don't want to waste hours and hours waiting around to try things that other people could tell me ahead of time will look ugly.
2) Does anybody have good suggestions for how to encourage an interesting animal to pass by a particular ambush point in a reasonable amount of time? For example, non-harmful but irresistable snacks or pheromones or something?

 

[runnah]

Check your local laws about baiting animals.

The hardest part is going to be getting the focus right. It will be dark of near dark and you won't have anything to focus on.

 

[Overread]

I have not done this, but I've looked into it and there are a few options you can use depending on what you want to shoot and how much capital you can throw at it. Will get back here later with more thoughts : )

 

[Gavjenks]

Check your local laws about baiting animals.

Good call. I just called up the Department of Natural Resources for Iowa, and they assured me it is legal to bait or feed any animals at all, as long as you don't intend to trap or kill them.

As for focusing, I was planning on just doing zone focus. I can calibrate it for whatever lens I use during the day on objects of known distance. My 70-300mm I would most likely use doesnt have a focal gauge, but a piece of masking tape on the extending part of the barrel + a sharpie will fix that =P

 

[EIngerson]

Sounds like a fun project. I would take a "hunting" approach to it. Start with scouting out intersections of game paths and set up some sort of blind at the avenues of approach. I'd bring someone with me to use as a subject to dial in settings and aim OCF units. Then I would leave the blind set up empty for about a week to let the animals get used to it. Then start manning it for the hunt. I figure hyper-focal settings with manual focus would work best as you want the camera to fire immediately.

As someone mentioned, check your local baiting laws. I couldn't imagine that being an issue if you're not killing the animal though. I look forward to seeing how it works out. Good luck.

 

[runnah]

Good call. I just called up the Department of Natural Resources for Iowa, and they assured me it is legal to bait or feed any animals at all, as long as you don't intend to trap or kill them.

Funny, here we can't do that. Salt licks are ok for live stock and whatnot but not deer.

 

[jwbryson1]

What about pigeons?

[video]http://videos.ppsop.com/pigeons.html[/video]

 

[danielklaer]

What kind of animals are we talking about?

For the last four years I have helped an older documentary maker here once a week up on Mt Tambourine (rainforest habatat) at night. He is filming/ documenting the biodiversity of the mountain and has been at it for 15 years (The Biodiversity of Tamborine Mountain, Queensland, Australia - A Video Archive if that interests you). Another friend and myself carry his equipment and do a lot of the animal finding for him but I also take along my camera. When we find something interesting (all the time) and I get the chance to use the camera my friend holds a flash for me.

You will see an absolute heap by just being out and about in the forest at night, it really is a different world. Many animals get stunned too and you will have extra time to shoot them. It isn't like day time where they see you a mile off and bolt or when many animals are hiding/sleeping. I've had echidna, brush tail possums, mountain possums, different skink species, pademelons, wallabies, native rodents, all kinds of spiders, snakes, birds (that don't fly away because they are roosting), insects, eels, turtles ect.

Of course you are after an ambush approach though and if you are after larger animals it may be more difficult not to spook them. I can't be much help in that regard other than to say wear quiet clothing Don't rule out just walking around though

 

[Vautrin]

My dad had a "stealth camera" he bought from Cabellas (or another nature store)

Basically it had an infared trigger (the kind you have for turning on your lights)

An animal would get close, it'd pop, and you'd get a photo

You could tell at night when it was going off.

THe only problem was it might get one photo a night. On top of that, not all would be good composition, so think maybe it's like leaving your camera out for a month in the elements -- not sitting in the bush with a telephoto

 

[grafxman]

This is just a whimsical photoshoot idea I thought I might try: Set up one or more flash units along a game trail or something, with remote triggers, hide somewhere nearby with a good composition through the lens, wait until an animal comes by, and "ambush" photograph it with nice lighting, etc. from the flashes, getting the shot before it has time to react. Thus getting a nice candid night photograph (and different kidns of animals than seen during day).

Problem is: it takes awhile to get a hit on your setup, and the animal then of course then runs away, plus you scare off everything in the area. So only one chance to get it right.

I already have the equipment left over from other things. My questions are strategy ones:
1) What sort of lighting arrangement would probably be good for flash-based nighttime portraiture of a deer or fox or raccoon etc.? Assume either 1 flash on camera and one off, OR two off-camera flashes. I have basic experience with studio portraits of humans and so forth, but this is obviously very different, and I don't want to waste hours and hours waiting around to try things that other people could tell me ahead of time will look ugly.
2) Does anybody have good suggestions for how to encourage an interesting animal to pass by a particular ambush point in a reasonable amount of time? For example, non-harmful but irresistable snacks or pheromones or something?

It sounds as if you are planning on lurking nearby then triggering the camera at the appropriate instant. If that's the case I think you may be in for a lot hours spent for nothing. First of all, unless the wind is favorable, the animals will smell you and either stay away or get curious and slip up behind you to check you out. That can provide a little more excitement than you expected. Second, if one does come down the trail the likelihood of you triggering the camera at just the right instant is unlikely unless you are in a tree above the target area. A deer stand may come in handy. Third, sitting perfectly still for the hours it will take is very, very hard because the skeeters will be feasting. The instant you move every critter within many yards will know something is up and probably stay away. BTW, a flash going off is generally ignored by most animals. They probably think it's a lightning flash however multiple flashes may startle them.

All of this said it should not discourage a determined person however. I have taken night time photos of my backyard with a trail camera. They're pretty cheap and they do a decent enough job. The less expensive ones have a visible flash and, if you spend a little more, you can find one that has an infrared flash. Those are the kind you use for your back door. Of course the picture quality is not great. Their lens is very wide angle.

So what you really need is some way to set up an infrared trigger for your camera. Set everything up then go home, get a good night's sleep and check things in the morning. Something like this might work:

TriggerSmart TriggerSmart Kit UK1 B&H Photo Video

Of course this means leaving your gear out in the woods overnight. Something from this page might be handy:

camera rain protection| B&H Photo Video

Setting out baits sounds like an excellent idea to me. You might consider photographing varmints such as foxes and coyotes. Varmint calls are cheap and they can be used day or night. Some skill is required though. I often use one when I'm out in the woods but without success. I haven't tried it at night though. In Florida you can call up something you really don't want to meet in the dark.

Many years ago I used to shoot video at night with a Sony Camcorder that had an infrared illuminator attachment and a night video setting. If you're interested here's a few samples. They are not very good quality however. The zoom range was limited so I had to use a multiplier that slipped on the lens:

flying squirrels d23 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

marsh rabbit in the dark1 d22 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Some critters such as flying squirrels are not usually seen in daylight.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[ShooterJ]

Be careful on game trails. Predators hunt them.. not sure what area you're in... or what you know and have applied ... but be aware of what to avoid and don't get tunnel vision looking for subjects.

 

[Gavjenks]

I am in Iowa, and there aren't any scary predators around. Coyotes, pretty much. And one articles suggests there may be as many as 10 cougars in the whole state (gasp!). Human hunters would be much more of a concern, but I wasn't planning on going anywhere near areas where they might be. More like parks and things right near settled areas. Raccoons, deer, etc. being subjects.

Anyway, I decided not to do this at all, after eventually deciding that baiting was too legally and even more so environmentally/morally sketchy (despite the Dpt. of Natural Resources' off the cuff answer).

And waiting for animals without baiting to walk into a really specific area sounded awfully tedious.

 

[snowbear]

I bet you'd get better, or at least more fun results set up outside a college town bar at closing time.

 

[Gavjenks]

I bet you'd get better, or at least more fun results set up outside a college town bar at closing time.

Haha. Yes, and much easier to bait. *Imagines beer can on a string*

 

[ShooterJ]

Have to admit though.. it did sound like an interesting idea. Tedious and lots of planning and thought involved, for both you and the animals sake .. but still interesting.