Concealment-where to learn?

rob-nikon

rob-nikon

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Rob
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Whilst out looking for owls this weekend I noticed the importance of concealing yourself. There was plenty of dog walkers and a few photographers about, it was interesting to see how much people blended in with the environment. It was interesting to see photographers in 'tree camo' blended in quite well except for their uncovered faces! Previously I've seen why staying still rather than chasing wildlife is a much better for the wildlife. I know there is a method of concealment called 5 or 7 S's where you have to think about things like sound, shape, smell, silhouette, shine, (sudden) movement. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some online tutorials or methods they may have used.
 
I used to find that thinking of myself as the hunted would tune the senses rather.
 
Rob I use all camo almost all the time I wear army scrim net as a scarf that doubles as a face cover ha stops the rain getting in too. also camo gloves. I guess so much depends on what you are after as not all what we want to take pics of in nature see colour. But for me at least the biggest give away that I am a human to a lot of mammals is the 3 white blobs ie,face and hands,I suspect anything with mammals that breaks ones outline would work,not solid blobs of colour. Wind direction incredibly important to animals,not so much birds I always work into the wind.My biggest problem with mammals so far is the ruddy shutter racket once i'm in close. Mate if you not in the depths of winter thin shoes so one can feel through the soles you can feel alot of twigs if in woodland before they break,while still watching beastie not the floor. So much depends on how acoustomed an animals is to us and what potential threat they percieve us to be,in some places moving other than an upright walk where they see folks will make them wary. use all cover .Obviously if you break the skyline camo is irrelevent. Mate I can't link you anything but I suspect you're already there I've not heard of those S's but it all makes sense. I've been known to almost run up to a deer where I have a blind spot and the wind right and contary to that the fallow we tried to get to grips with on the rut would clock us feilds away if we messed up in any way no sudden movements there!!. Even inside mammals I would worry more on smell and noise with say a badger than say a fox whose eyes I feel are sharper.

There is a start mate but I doubt I've told you anything you don't know
best oluck

Stu
 
Nitram said:
I used to find that thinking of myself as the hunted would tune the senses rather.
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That makes sense.

Stuart Philpott said:
Rob I use all camo almost all the time I wear army scrim net as a scarf that doubles as a face cover ha stops the rain getting in too. also camo gloves. I guess so much depends on what you are after as not all what we want to take pics of in nature see colour. But for me at least the biggest give away that I am a human to a lot of mammals is the 3 white blobs ie,face and hands,I suspect anything with mammals that breaks ones outline would work,not solid blobs of colour. Wind direction incredibly important to animals,not so much birds I always work into the wind.My biggest problem with mammals so far is the ruddy shutter racket once i'm in close. Mate if you not in the depths of winter thin shoes so one can feel through the soles you can feel alot of twigs if in woodland before they break,while still watching beastie not the floor. So much depends on how acoustomed an animals is to us and what potential threat they percieve us to be,in some places moving other than an upright walk where they see folks will make them wary. use all cover .Obviously if you break the skyline camo is irrelevent. Mate I can't link you anything but I suspect you're already there I've not heard of those S's but it all makes sense. I've been known to almost run up to a deer where I have a blind spot and the wind right and contary to that the fallow we tried to get to grips with on the rut would clock us feilds away if we messed up in any way no sudden movements there!!. Even inside mammals I would worry more on smell and noise with say a badger than say a fox whose eyes I feel are sharper.

There is a start mate but I doubt I've told you anything you don't know
best oluck

Stu
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Thanks for the reply Stu. It was only recently that I thought about the face being exposed so it's a good reminder. I wear black gloves so hands are not a problem. I normally stick to dab green colours for jacket/trousers rather than camo but I'm currently buying bits like camo over jacket/trousers, gloves, face scarf etc. I picked up the face scarf whilst in go outdoors today, it's a buff/snood that can be worn different ways and is quick/easy to change without taking off so I can see it being useful.
 
I wear a camo jacket but only because it's warm and waterproof. It's so good, I am going to order another one. It also has zip up pockets so when climbing/crawling through the undergrowth, nothing gets lost!

If anyone is interested I bought it from here :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SURPLUS-W...ITARY-STYLE-JACKET-FLEECE-LINED-/261557695606

I got the Woodland camo design but that's now out of stock. It'd be good to get a different design anyway.

Reading up on lots of articles lately and when putting into practise, it really does seem to be the human outline coming over the horizon. We definitely need to break that up to have any success.

When I took the dog and kids for a walk, I laid down at Moorhen level, as they are always down our local pond and so hard to get a photo of, and the outline is so significant from that low, no wonder they see us a mile off!

I'm pretty sure the best way is to have patience and wait it out in a hide, be it portable or static. I like the look of the hide netting that you just throw over yourself and your gear :)
 
rob-nikon said:
That makes sense.



Thanks for the reply Stu. It was only recently that I thought about the face being exposed so it's a good reminder. I wear black gloves so hands are not a problem. I normally stick to dab green colours for jacket/trousers rather than camo but I'm currently buying bits like camo over jacket/trousers, gloves, face scarf etc. I picked up the face scarf whilst in go outdoors today, it's a buff/snood that can be worn different ways and is quick/easy to change without taking off so I can see it being useful.
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Rob I am pretty much always in camo or green let alone when chasing beasties, I thought I ought declare a potential bias:) maybe i'm a bit ott on all this (but it works mate) I'd personally steer you to green gloves or better camo,I know it sounds silly,but solid black I wonder on,put it this way: what in english nature apart from a few black birds ie the actual environment is actually black? Mate which bit of you is the most likely to move at any form of speed when moving slowly towards a potential photography target,it's your hands mate or maybe feet,but hands will have the most potential to be seen.by anything on the ground,hmm bird up a tree might be somewhat different;) All these animals have a different view of the world to us Rob i'm lead to believe that some see almost black and white some can see into the uv zone ie far more colour than us some the other end,so being pragmatic if we get close to what nature is then maybe we are in the ballpark? As is already so well illustrated by Wez though what we wear is only a small part and what we are trying to get close to has to affect all aspects. Sit and wait is cool don't get me wrong rob a silly thing get something comfy to sit on,for years I had a cheep green rusksac with a pillow in,damn hard keeping still when one is uncomfortable I got a waterproof thing years later,bare with me I'll find a link think wildlife watching supplies make it if you aren't already sorted:)

Stu
 
Stuart Philpott said:
Rob I am pretty much always in camo or green let alone when chasing beasties, I thought I ought declare a potential bias:) maybe i'm a bit ott on all this (but it works mate) I'd personally steer you to green gloves or better camo,I know it sounds silly,but solid black I wonder on,put it this way: what in english nature apart from a few black birds ie the actual environment is actually black? Mate which bit of you is the most likely to move at any form of speed when moving slowly towards a potential photography target,it's your hands mate or maybe feet,but hands will have the most potential to be seen.by anything on the ground,hmm bird up a tree might be somewhat different;) All these animals have a different view of the world to us Rob i'm lead to believe that some see almost black and white some can see into the uv zone ie far more colour than us some the other end,so being pragmatic if we get close to what nature is then maybe we are in the ballpark? As is already so well illustrated by Wez though what we wear is only a small part and what we are trying to get close to has to affect all aspects. Sit and wait is cool don't get me wrong rob a silly thing get something comfy to sit on,for years I had a cheep green rusksac with a pillow in,damn hard keeping still when one is uncomfortable I got a waterproof thing years later,bare with me I'll find a link think wildlife watching supplies make it if you aren't already sorted:)

Stu
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Thanks Stu, you make a good point about black gloves. I do have a pair of green etip gloves I use for walking the dog so I may just swap them over. I'm just waiting on a delivery of a lightweight camo top and trousers to go with the camo gloves and snood I've recently picked up. I've decided to do for the lightweight setup so I can keep them in the camera backpack for the times I think they will be useful.
 
wezza13 said:
I wear a camo jacket but only because it's warm and waterproof. It's so good, I am going to order another one. It also has zip up pockets so when climbing/crawling through the undergrowth, nothing gets lost!

If anyone is interested I bought it from here :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SURPLUS-W...ITARY-STYLE-JACKET-FLEECE-LINED-/261557695606

I got the Woodland camo design but that's now out of stock. It'd be good to get a different design anyway.

Reading up on lots of articles lately and when putting into practise, it really does seem to be the human outline coming over the horizon. We definitely need to break that up to have any success.

When I took the dog and kids for a walk, I laid down at Moorhen level, as they are always down our local pond and so hard to get a photo of, and the outline is so significant from that low, no wonder they see us a mile off!

I'm pretty sure the best way is to have patience and wait it out in a hide, be it portable or static. I like the look of the hide netting that you just throw over yourself and your gear :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply and the link. I think you are right our silhouette against the skyline is very important part. I have found previously that sometimes all it needs is for us to blend in with the environment. At my local deer park where the deer see plenty of humans camo is not really needed as some walkers turn up in bright red jackets. I would expect trying to stalk wild deer in the highlands or the peak district probably wouldn't be very successful in a bright red jacket.
 
How do you deal with muggles (non camera folk)? I took great care to sneak up on some deer the other weekend, was just getting close enough for what I wanted to capture, then some idiots and a dog came plodding straight at them from another direction and scared them all off. Is it just one of those things, and you have to avoid places/times when other people are around... or is there anything you can do to attract deer to a location that you're set up near?
My only experience of stalking deer, is in GTA5 :)
 
Jonny Funkweasel said:
How do you deal with muggles (non camera folk)? I took great care to sneak up on some deer the other weekend, was just getting close enough for what I wanted to capture, then some idiots and a dog came plodding straight at them from another direction and scared them all off.
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Are you actually serious? What on earth makes you think that your rights are any greater than the 'idiots' taking a walk.

It's just as likely that they were thinking 'Ooh, look at that prat trying to stalk the deer.'

If you want exclusivity, negotiate with a private estate because that's virtually the only place that you'll find large deer herds outside of public parks.
 
DemiLion said:
Are you actually serious?
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Yes, with tongue firmly in cheek.
To clarify: No, I don't believe I or anyone deserves exclusive rights to anything, anywhere - though you idea of a private estate isn't bad.
But in the case of the so-called idiots.. they were idiots. They had a dog, off the lead, in a park where dogs are to be kept on a lead.

:)
 
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Rob hope it's cool to reply to Jonny it's slightly off topic but I guess all these things link up. Jonny I have access to a private estate well part of it,ha the bit where the deer are most oft found. Estates are often crossed with foot paths and yup the dog walkers also disregard the please keep your dog on a lead signs,I'm with ya mate we have no more rights than them,but regardless of that it doesn't always work against us. For sure many circuit stalks of fallow deer to deal with wind direction and get the right approach(ha yup I do mean fallow this time), have been defeated by walkers,but sometimes they drive the deer not away but towards us. We had a buck and all his ladies( in the rut) literally driven to us!! Because of the time we had already spent watching these deer our gamble of pre empting just where they would run to when we spotted the walkers paid off.

Ha now back to topic,both clad head to toe in camo no faces or hands bare, we were able to move quick under the shadow of the trees without the deer spotting us and were gifted a wonderful experience got a few pics too. So in all honesty although it can be frustrating other folks enjoying our countrside can actually,on the odd occassion help us. My real point though on rob's thread about concealment is thus: one can't always foresee what comes next, having taken those steps to make ourselves look like a trees;) from the minute we left the car meant that when we had just seconds to move and pick a few nettles as cover that was enough for the deer to not know we were there. It's not often one gets a VERY WILD fallow buck stood withing yards,or one or the doe's he fancied and chased very nearly run over us. I don't think any of that lucky day would have happened without the steps taken with regards to camo etc .


Stu

Jonny Funkweasel said:
Yes, with tongue firmly in cheek.
To clarify: No, I don't believe I or anyone deserves exclusive rights to anything, anywhere - though you idea of a private estate isn't bad.
But in the case of the so-called idiots.. they were idiots. They had a dog, off the lead, in a park where dogs are to be kept on a lead.

:)
Click to expand...
 
The downside with camouflage is that it tends to have the opposite effect with homo sapiens. Unless you achieve army sniper levels of invisibility, people tend to take a large detour to investigative the strange object they spotted...
 
Don't camo yourself to much in the woods in rural France - you may just get shot - I am always conscious of the idiot hunters and their dogs

but I have just bought a throw over hide from WildlifewatchingSupplies
 
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hockeyboy150 said:
I have found the army type scrim (approximately 1 metre by 2 metres) worn as a scarf is very useful. Firstly it keeps you warm when worn as a scarf (doh) but when required it can be draped over you and camera gear with great effect. Cheap and always at hand.
Click to expand...

That's a good shout, I'll try it with mine. It's literally the size of a normal scarf though but it might work :)
 
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