Night photography without flash

[MrFish]

I need to take some night shots without using a visible flash.
I have a badger set in on of my fields and intend to set up a small hide to see if i can get some shots.

The problem of course is that it is pitch dark and i cannot use a normal flash, but long exposures won't work on a moving animal.

Is it possible to get a flash gun (or buld for a normal gun) that puts out just InfraRed? and if it did would this be good enough for the S2 to pick up?

[memobug]

There are some infrared sources and filters available, but I'm wondering why you can't use a conventional flash unit?

Regards,

Matt

[Wichita Wayne]

Pound for pound there is not many animals meaner than a badger. Unless it is two angry badgers.

[S_Leeper]

Try using an f1.4 50 or 85mm lens (or one of even faster speciality lenses) on a night with 3/4 moon or more, especially if you can get your "friend" into the open area. You might be able to get by with 800 @ 1/20 wide open. If you use RAW you will probably be able to bring up some of the details.

One caution--the shutter makes noise... so bring some big rocks to make noise somewhere else... or tie a sting to a bell off to the side... hopefully your friend won't run into you...

Also can you put up a constant on low wattage light (like a landscape 12v) nearby that might not keep him/her away, but will help you get the shot.

good luck

[Tom V]

There are a few manufacturers that make IR flash units. Nikon made one, as did Sunpack, et al.

My friend used one to shoot RUSH concerts (with permission) with interesting results. The flash units have a very limited use, because they are not good for anything else.

I don't know how responsive the Fuji S2 sensor is to IR light. The whole idea of using IR could be for naught.

Kodak's IR film sees IR and visible light. In order to get a "pure IR" image, you had to use a filter that blocked visible light, making the use of the viewfinder impossible (all visible light was blocked). Many photographers compromise with a deep red (25) filter.

I would first attempt using regular flash light. If the animal gets spooked the first, second, fifth time, maybe it will get used to it the tenth.

You could attempt to simulate moonlight by putting the flash over the intended subject area.

Movies' night scenes are often shot with lights mounted very high above the set (outdoors), and recently gaffers and lighting directors have been using internally illuminated white blimps floating high above the sets to give the backgrounds some illumination without looking like spotlights are present.

If the critter is spooked by the light, try putting a red filter over the flash. Nocturnal creatures at the zoo are often in cages with red lights to make public viewing possible without apparent discomfort to the imprisoned animal.

Try using a blue filter ove the flash to simulate moon light. Try underexposure by a stop or more to in order to make it look like night.

You don't want your night shots to be lit up like daylight, or they will end up looking like you shot them in daylight. - let them be dark. And so they just don't look too dark, you need some sort of highlight or detail in the animal's shape. The best way is probably a highlight or eyeshine in the animal's eye. I would try at least a small on-camera flash (the built-in flash) just to get a sparkley eye.

Nature photography can demand a lot of time to get the right image. Don't give up. The harder an image is to make, the more likely it is to be something that nobody else has. One great shot of a badger at night is better than 50 lousy shots. Strive to make that one great shot (or more!).

[Seachicken]

Hi!

Here is my tuppence ha'penny worth.

The S2 is reasonably sensitive to IR.
I've taken shots in daylight with 2 IR filters over the lens. The light loss was 7 stops with one, and 12 stops with the other. I've also read somewhere that the R72 filter gives you only 4.5 stops light attenuation.

I would do this... unless you absolutely need no visible light on the badger, try with a deep red filter.. a gelatin one would probably be the best. That way you will have more light on the badger and may not provoke a bitefest on your shins.

To do it properly, I guess you need to find out (if anyone knows) what freqency a badger can see up to (I bet they can see into the IR range), and buy a sharp cut filter that cuts light below that point. Fuji do a range of gelatin filters that cut off a gradually increasing filters.. dunno if they're available everywhere though.

To do it cheaply, get some unexposed but developed transparency film and tape this over the flash.

Andy.