Badger

flossyplops

flossyplops

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Heidi
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This chap visits our garden every night always knocking over my bird feeder to get at the peanuts etc. Last night he visited around 10.30pm which is early for him/her. I managed to get some quick pics but was wondering if anyone could help with the eyes and also if anyone has any advice as how best to photograph him/her at night time. Last night was a quick panic on auto with the incamera flash and my hubby at the window shining a torch on him.
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As you quite rightly point out light, or lack of it, is the issue here and as a result you've probably had some slow shutter speeds which have given you soft images. The answer might be to install some garden lights and up the ISO setting. Don't forget to adjust white balance for the temperature of the lights.;)
 
Built- in camera flashes have very limited power and range - about 20 feet or so is probably the maximum usable range and they become less effective towards the end of that range anyway. That pop up flash is also so close to the lens axis that red eye or white eye is virtually guaranteed.

A more powerful flashgun is really the answer and get the flashgun as far away from the camera as possible to remove the redeye problem.

Rigging up some garden lights is the other solution, and I think your badger wont be too concerned as long as the lights aren't overly bright, but you may still struggle to get a fast enough shutter speed without using flash as well.

You're very luck though to have this guy visiting your garden and I'd certainly get set up to make the most of the situation.
 
Heidi these shots aren't actually as bad as you might think - I've just lightened this one a bit. The others should lighten quite well too but red eye isn't an issue with this one because Brock isn't looking directly at the camera.....


badger-edit by tonky8203, on Flickr
 
Doog- Thanks for your reply, would i be able to get some kind of portable garden lights from somewhere? I know the badger is visiting every night because he always knocks the bird table over, so i reckon i probably have plenty of time to mess around with settings and lights etc. He doesnt seem in the least bit bothered about the torch being on him or me taking pictures from the garden using the flash and only leaves when he's eaten all the food and had a drink :LOL:

CT- Thanks for your comments, the pic you did looks much better, less orange, I will have a go at the others, thankyou. I have a flashgun that attaches to the hotshoe but i can angle it so maybe that would work better? He certainly doesnt seem to mind the light being on him or the flash and just looks up then carries on eating. We are leaving food and water out every evening as they are apparently finding it had to get worms because of the dry weather and solid ground, he's also made a badger sized hole in my hedge and bit of a track :LOL:

Just out of interest we also have squirrels and woodpeckers visiting that feeder every day so we are very lucky (y)
 
I get woodpeckers every day too , and far too many bloody squirrels! :D Sadly, no badgers though.

The orange cast is due to the tungsten torch light which has a different colour temperature to your flash. Mixing flash and tungsten isn't generally a good idea as you can't get the white balance right for both. If you propose to just use garden lights then just setting the wb to 'tungsten' will get rid of the orange cast.

You can't really angle your flash gun Heidi unless there's some convenient surface to bounce the light back onto the badger - otherwise the light will just miss him. The cheapest solution is probably a flash extension cord provided your flashgun has a suitable socket, although you can get extension cords which plug into the hotshoe too.

With a bit of ingenuity it shouldn't be too difficult to rig up a flash reflector on the camera which will allow you to bounce the flash by angling it upwards.

Good luck - I look forward to your shots. (y)
 
CT- Thanks once again for your help, i'm going to have a go at the DIY Flash Diffuser and see how that goes (y)
 
I have made a flash diffuser and have a light to put in the garden, could anyone tell me what position the light should be in. I know the spot the badger visits so can place the light, above, beside, infront, behind him we only have the one light so what would be best?. Ive also put a dark cover up between two gate posts where i stand so i'm not so obvious and dont spook him as much. I've also swept the path so i dont tread on any crispy leaves, lol.
Apart from positioning of the light i'm all set to have a proper go at photographing him/her, fingers crossed for this evening :)
Can anyone give me and tips on iso and shutter speed settings to use please?
please bear with me as i'm a learner and am very gratefull for the help i'm getting :)
 
I'm impressed - with all that preparation you deserve to succeed! (y)

I don't think the position of the garden light matters that much Heidi as long as it's shining onto the badger from your position rather than behind him.The flash should be far more powerful than the garden light anyway. You just need enough light from the garden light for you to be able to see Brock when he comes, and hopefully for your AF system to be able to work.

I wouldn't worry about ISO too much Heidi- but try say 400 ISO which should be fast enough with flash.

What make of flashgun have you got? Does it have a TTL setting?
 
Hi CT,
Heres some pics from this evening. Looking at them i can now see that i need the light in a different position as my AF was struggling to focus a lot of the time which was spooking the badger a bit, i think it needs to be further down the garden which i will try tomorrow. Another thing i must do is move the feeder slightly or my planters and the bird table as i'm having to crop a lot of "junk" out of the background. I will have a look at my flashgun tomorrow and let you know the make and whether it has the setting. Thankyou, (y)
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These pictures seem to have a blue/green tinge to them this time and need lightening maybe?
 
Heidi the blue cast is probably because you've set a tungsten wb, which is the wrong thing to do using flash - it would be OK if you were just using the garden lights (no flash), but using flash you need to set the wb to either 'Sunlight' or 'Flash'- it doesn't really matter which.

The wb can be corrected pretty much in processing, like so...


badger4-Copy-edit by tonky8203, on Flickr

The shots are very dark -it seems you're not getting enough light onto the badger from that flashgun, but it could just be settings on the camera and/or flashgun causing the problem. We just need to know a bit more about that flashgun and what range you're shooting at.

The red eye problem is improved already though. (y)
 
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Thanks CT- I stand behind the garden hedge which is around 12 feet from where the badger feeds at his closest. You were right i did have wb set as tungsten, oops.
I'm using a Canon Speedlite 270EX. :)
 
From what I can see Heidi, the 270EX is a very basic flashgun which is always in ETTL (auto through then lens mode), with no manual override, but that's probably a good thing which saves a lot of confusion with your present level of experience.

Make sure you have fresh batteries in the flash so you get full power out of it. The simplest way for you to work is just to set the camera to 'P' Mode (Programme) and the camera should automatically set the correct shutter sync speed for your flash and also select the aperture for you, adjusting it's power output accordingly for well exposed shots.

Try that and see how you get on - it should work well, but if need be we can try another method using Manual Mode.
 
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Ok thanks i will give that a go tonight :) We have had rain here at long last this afternoon so he might fill up on worms and not bother with my peanuts, lol

I'm also going to move the garden light a bit so he's easier for my AF to pick up.

I put new batteries in my flash yesterday :)
 
Here are some pics from last night, i changed the position of the light and also went with the settings you said. I have to admit quite looking forward to watching him every evening, he doesnt seem fazed by anything i do (y)
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Well done Heidi, a fantastic improvement and the shots look natural enough and not over-flashed, retaining the atmosphere of the darkness.I don't think you could do much better than these. :clap:
 
Thanks for all your help CT, i've really enjoyed doing this over the last few nights and learnt alot from your advice which has been brilliant :love:

Heidi (y)

ps Mother in law looked at me this morning and said i should stop watching badgers and get some sleep at night :D
 
It's a pleasure to help someone who's so keen Heidi. Just send me a Badger.;)

What I'd do now is try to get a bit lower which will make the shots a lot more intimate down at their level. Get comfortable with a low seat perhaps.

Just a note of caution - be careful about getting too familiar with this guy. they're pretty harmless and will usually just vamoose if they feel threatened, but if they feel cornered they can be very aggressive and have the front claws to do some damage.!
 
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Pity you dont live closer CT you could share my badger :LOL:

This evening i will move infront of the hedge and into the garden, i can put my screen across as our front garden is only small. It means i cant rely on looking out the window to see if he has arrived so will have to be in the garden before he gets there which is no problem as he always turns up the first time between 10.30 and 11 pm. That way i can lay or sit on the ground for a lower angle and hopefully some more interesting photos.

I had suggested chopping a hole in the hedge but my hubby wasn't having any of it! :bang:
 
In the early hours of this morning after a few hours laying in the garden under a home made hide Badger appeared these are a few of what i got
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Well done - these are great! This two would be my pick of a very nice set though...


badgerX2 by tonky8203, on Flickr

I've lightened these Heidi - just a smidge and set the wb to 6500K to get rid of that slight yellow cast on his white bits.
 
Thankyou :) Heres a few more, i have lightened these ones as i can see what you mean about the yellow cast
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Well you've got it pretty well made now with this set up. All you can do now is improve on the nicey bits - try to hide the food so it's not in the shots. Try putting the food in small holes in the ground so they can still find it without it being visible in your low level shots - the shots will look a lot more natural.

If you can hide/lose that wooden structure in the bg so much the better - some of these shots look they were taken in woodland apart from that.

Let's hope he keeps turning up for you. (y)
 
Thanks CT, its only after you take them you see the bits that can be improved. I think i'm going to have a proper nights sleep tonight and get out there again tomorrow. I will make some feeding holes for the food in the grass and move the wodpecker feeder out of the way as well, i need a bigger front garden, lol

Heres a pic of the top half of the wooden structure which is my homemade woodpecker feeder which is also very popular in my garden at the mo

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just a thought could you not set up some kind of security light that is set off by an infra red sensor to light the bird table up when the badger appears maybe you could difuse it some how as well? you may also want to try different white balance settings with this set up to see what works best for you...i love the pictures none the less!
 
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