OWL PHOTOGRAPHY | Photographing Owls after Dark & Tragopan V6 Hide Review Part 2
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- Опубліковано 19 жов 2019
- One of my real passions in wildlife photography is photographing owls. If you're lucky you can often see owls flying during the day but not many people experience their magic after dark. Join me as I as I continue my review of the Tragopan V6 photography hide on location and introduce you to my technique of photography owls after dark using continuous lights.
I hope you enjoy this video and it will be followed shortly with another coming very soon... Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on this technique either in the comments below or through my website.
WEBSITE: www.simonwantling.co.uk
TWITTER: / simonwphotos
INSTAGRAM: / simonwantlingphotography
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Hey Simon! I loved this video! I really like the idea of using continuous lighting. It definitely requires a bit more planning, but better for the animal and gives you the ability to get some interesting lighting angles that a single flash couldn't do. I think the hide looks great, too! Excited for the next vid!
Thanks Stefano, glad you liked it. I enjoyed doing this one and looking forward to filming the next installment. It does require some planning but I truly think that this technique causes absolutely no disturbance to the owls as it's entirely up to them if they decide to land or not. I've even seen them sitting on street lights at this location. Thanks again.
@@SimonWantling Yeah, I can see that! I have seen many Great-horned Owls in my area sitting on street lights, as well. Great idea!
Keeping us all hooked. Great way to get me back for the next episode! Thanks mate, enjoyed it.
Thanks Riley. Keep tuning in and we'll have owls soon..
Great video Simon and so useful to see how you take these kinds of images!
Thanks a lot Espen. Hope you're well.
Another good video showing how you go about getting images and footage and thanks for sharing your tips and settings etc Simon
Thank you..
What an excellent insight into Owl photography Simon. I don't think some people realise the patience and hard preparatory work needed to get a good photograph or not. Just an enjoyable vlog again.
Thank you very much Nigel. I'm glad you enjoyed part 1 of this video. It does take a lot of time and commitment to get these type of images. Certainly not something you can just turn up and do. Worth the effort in the end, although I still much prefer an owl image in daylight just as the sun is setting..
Simon, I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for sharing your approach for night photography.
Hi Denis, thank you very much for the comment. Glad you found it useful and hopefully it's a technique you can try sometime. All the best..👍
Verrrry niccce
Thanks David
Great video! I have three species of owls around my house and I hope I can get them to visit my setup too. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you and all the best with your project. Fingers crossed you can get some images.
Great video Simon shame we didn’t get to see a owl hopefully you will do another one with success this time always look forward to your videos keep them coming 😜
Thanks Mike. That's wildlife photography for you plus I didn't expect all the background noise. I'll be out in a few days filming again so hopeful of some action to bring you.
Great video Simon! I have been looking for some continuous lights. These looked great. Have you tried them as backlight as well?
Hi Trond, nice to hear from you. These lights are great. They are the Rotolight Neo's version one. I have used them for lighting the scene before other than a post. If you've seen my wide angle Barn Owl image under the stars, then used these lights to light the post and foreground etc.
What's the Fastest shutter speed you could shoot at with light and catch without getting motion Blurr?
I have a set of Roto lights and we have areas that get Owls . TIA
Hi Ricardo. Thanks for your message. If you just wanted to get a image of the owl sitting on the post, you could get away with a relatively slow shutter speed 1/160 for example and there is plenty of light with two rotolights to achieve that. I always bump up the iso to get a decent speed. Fortunately owls as pretty slow moving. If I want to capture the owl landing at the post then I tend to set up 6 lights to get that extra ability to increase the shutter speed to at least 1/500. They are not all rotolights though as any battery operated LED will do. I also use the Yongnuo ones which can be found on Amazon and pretty cheap. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your videos on the Tragopan V6. However, one key and fundamental aspect I haven't seen or heard discussed was the actual comfort and placement of the port holes and how they align when your sitting in a folding chair.
Hi Adam, thanks for your suggestion. The plan is that towards the end of September I'll be reviewing the latest version of the V6 hide plus another style so I will cover your suggestion in that. What I would say now though is that the comfort was very good and the opening are adjustable depending on the height of the camera so fully flexible but will cover it in more depth in the next videos. Thanks 👍
Simon Wantling Thanks for the quick reply Simon and I look forward to your upcoming September videos. It’s not clear to me how the port hole is adjustable so if you could show that as well, it would be most appreciated. I would like to make a blind purchase before Fall season is fully in swing here in the Northeast. If I didn’t say it before I am 6’1” tall (with a bad back ☹️). Perhaps you could take some video with the one side completely zipped open to show your seated position. I would also be interested in knowing your chair make/model and seat height. Of course, there will be times when I am laying prone bottom shooting and I wish Tragopan built into the V6 a proper port for that.
Sure no problem Adam. Maybe the other hides I'm reviewing will be better. I will cover the items you mentioned so thanks for the feedback.
Hi Simon. Your Rotolights - 1. What amount of time do you get on continous light at 100% with fully recharged batteries? 2. In the video, were the lights at maximum effective distance from the post?
Simon two questions un-answered?
Hi Roger. Thanks for your message. With a full charge, I usually get 1.5 hours run time. In terms of distance its a balance as the closer you have them the lower the light power you need but it might put the owls off. I would say that you don't need to spend the money on Rotolight as they are expensive. Yongnuo do a nice LED Bank on amazing for about £70 so much cheaper. All you need really is some battery powered LED banks. I just owned the Rotolight as I had them for a studio job.
Sorry - I only see two questions and answered both. I don't know the effective distance of the lights as I said I put them as close as possible to the post which I know I can get away with. Usually about 2 meters from the post.
@@SimonWantling I Don't know what is going on Simon. Firstly I got a UA-cam reply with a "Heart symbol" only. So I asked about the two questions. After sending that I got a second youtube reply from you, giving your replies. Very strange. Thanks for the answers anyhow.
No problem. The heart is just to indicate that I liked your question. All the best.
Excellent video and tutorial :) I've always wondered about night time photography with lights... We're getting to the time of year when I'm literally not at home in daylight on weekdays, but I'm also not keen on the idea of using flash! The static lighting system looks great - how long do you get out of them before you need to recharge batteries etc?
Hi Geoff, Nice to hear from you. It is a much better option than using flash. On those lights I get about 2-3 hours lighting time depending on how bright I have them set to. I usually go for around 50% power. As I've mentioned in a few replies to people, you don't need to spend that sort of money on lighting. I had them from my studio work but any LED bank will do assuming it's battery powered. Thanks
@@SimonWantling thanks for the info - yeah, there are plenty of options for LED light blocks. While there's probably no need for the top flight setup, it's still probably worth getting something reasonably well made for using outside...
PS. Congratulations on the 1k subscribers :D
Loved it, do you bait the post. There is a hide complex in Somerset (I won't name it until I have your approval) that uses fixed LED lights and is having great success with Raptors, Foxes and Badgers. really looking forward to the next episode.
Thanks Dave. Glad you like it. No I never bait the posts. Not into that. 90% of the time you get nothing but it's worth the wait. I find owls are creatures of habit and can't resist a post. There is a grain store near the field which attracts the owls so they are in the area.
Really enjoyed the video I have a few species of owl near to me but they don't seem to use the same areas each time is there a best time to capture them
Hi Andrew, thanks for your comment. I find the best time is roughly in the first hour or two after dark when they come out on the hunt. After that it slows down in my experience. Also, using the continuous lights you only have a couple of hours before the batteries run out. Hope that helps.
Hi Simon, Just discovered you. Really enjoying your stuff. I'm looking at the V6, think i'm sold. Can I ask what chair do you use and could you use the RF 800 for this kind of photography, unfortunately I can't stretch to the f4 . Many thanks. Steve
Hi, thanks for finding the channel and glad you liked it. I haven't released one for a while as I took a break but back out again recording new content. The V6 hide is very good. They have a new version in a better colour now. Im just using a small stool at the moment so nothing specific. When if comes to the RF800mm f/11 which I also own as a walk about lens, you would struggle with continuous lights at that fixed f stop. It wouldn't be an issue if you were using low powered flash but I'm not sure where you stand on that one. With the continuous lights you would need a wider aperture to handle that amount of light. Are you using the R5 with you 800mm?
@@SimonWantling Thanks for your reply. I have the R6. I thought that might be the case being f11. I currently use the RF100-500 for my wildlife shots, but could do with more reach. I noticed on your website that you have the 800mm. Do you have any images with that lens, I would love to see them. Look forward to seeing more of your videos. Regards Steve.
The 100-500mm is a fantastic lens. The 800mm is not a lens I use a lot. It was something light to carry when I was out for a walk with the wife. My main lens is the 600mm f/4 Mark iii currently but I really do like the 800mm and is a very capable lens. Here is a Red Squirrel captured using the 800mm.
www.simonwantling.co.uk/recent-images-1
Hi Simon, love the vlog. What wattage are the lights you use? We have a barn owl and tawny locally and would love to give this a try.
Hi Vanessa, thanks for your comment. I don't honestly know the wattage but they are 1077 lux at 3 feet so pretty bright. You don't need to buy these expensive lights as mentioned. There are plenty of battery powered LED lights on sites like Amazon. I just have these as part of some studio work I've done. Thanks again and I hope you manage to get some images.
Hi Simon, thanks for the video, really like what you are doing. Whereabouts are you based roughly in Cambridgeshire if you don't mind me asking ? All the best
Hi, thanks for the comment - really appreciate it. I'm based in Northamptonshire on the Beds border. There is the link to the hide in the description on the video or if you visit my website www.simonwantling.co.uk there is a long to their website at the bottom of the home page. Cheers
Thanks for sharing your evening photography set up, very interesting, how long would you wait after dark ??? before calling it a day.
Thanks a lot. I normally give it a couple of hours which is basically the life of a set of rechargeable batteries. 👍
Do u need bait for the owl stand on that thing ??
No none of my images are ever baited. This post sits in a farm near a farm building which stores animal feed so there are natural prey around and the owls have got to realise that over the years.
Just discovered your channel. Going through your videos, all fantastic so far. Would love to photograph a barn owl, one of my goals. Unfortunately they are scarce enough in Ireland
Thank you Andrew. That's very kind of you to say. Barn owls are amazing birds to watch and photograph. I had heard they were rather scarce over your way. If you're ever in the UK mainland then give me a shout and you're more than welcome to join me. Good luck.
@@SimonWantling Sorry for the delay Simon. Only remembered to get back to you now. Thanks very much for the offer. I would love to take you up on that sometime. Keep up the great videos
Hi simon! I've been looking for a video like this for months. I'm currently studying urban owls for my Master's thesis but I haven't got very good pictures yet, this will certainly help me a lot since I have a few good spots to try continuous lighting! I'm suscribing asap. Greetings from Mexico.
Hi Miguel, thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you like the video. Good luck with your project..
loved your video Simon .....im using flashguns to photograph tawny owls I have in our grounds ....however Im wanting to move over to LED floodlighting to enable more than just me to photograph these amazing birds from my wildlife hide ....Im wanting more of the owls coming into land than static shots ...what would you advise please
Hi Phil, thanks for your comment. When I photography barn owls coming into land I basically use six of the Rotolight LED. Basically more light needed for a faster shutter speed.
Great video Simon going to give this a go :)
Thanks John. Would be great to see any results you get. Cheers..
@@SimonWantling Just waiting on my lights to come :)
@@MrCarrig great. Which LED lights did you go for in the end. As I mentioned in the video, there are a lot cheaper alternatives to the ones I was using.
@@SimonWantling I got the the same ones a kit with stands 3 lights second hand one year old for £380 :):)
@@MrCarrig that's good. I paid £300 for one.. good luck with it John.
Hi Simon, just started following you and loving your owl videos.I have just acquired a bit of land which I hope to set up some perches etc but was wondering about LED panels..I might not go full out with the Rotolight alms you use but can you recommend any cheaper alternatives that would suffice? or do they all do a job...obviously then need to be battery driven but can you use simple lights without the colour control etc? Cheers
Hi Jeremy, thanks for your message and how wonderful to have your own bit of land to work up these projects. Good luck.
No problem. I wouldn't recommend the rotolight lights for this type of photography as they are very expensive and just not needed. I had mine for studio work so had them anyway. Any battery powdered LED bank will work but I would recommend the Yongnuo YN300 III which are readily available on Amazon. They are fairly cheap but seem reliable and certainly worth having in your kit bag. 👍
@@SimonWantling Brilliant, thanks for that..and you use 2 for the bird and one for the post...I will look at 3. Do you feed the birds to attract them in to begin with? Mice etc...as I can hear the owls but may need to encourage them down...never done before so not sure on the ethics etc..
Cheers
Personally I don't use bait. I position my posts near an old grain yard and consequently the mice come in to feed on that naturally and the owls get to know where the food is. I know people that do use the old bait. It's up to you of course. Some people frown on it but I'm not one to judge on it. At the end of the day I'm not sure it's any different than feeding the birds in your garden but totally up to you where you personally stand.
@@SimonWantling Ok great...I have no issues with it but there are plenty of mice and voles in the orchard as I see the local cat population having fun with them..but i will see how that goes...anyway, thanks for the info, i shall go and have a spend!!! Cheers
@@SimonWantling.. Last thing.. The LEDS you have suggested, are they OK to use in day light if its a but dull? Cheers
How many times have they landed on the lights lol
🙂 quite a few..
Very educational, thank you. I bet you have to keep quiet too?
Thanks Brian. Lot of waiting and keeping quiet yes.. thanks for looking.