Knothole Feeder Version II

In a previous blog entry I showed the steps involved in making a knothole feeder with a piece of bark. This is a slightly different version using a piece of solid firewood. Knothole feeders are extremely useful for photographing species of birds and mammals that are cavity nesters and users. If it is properly made these species have no fear of going inside a feeder of this type and using it. (Please click to enlarge images) Step one the most difficult part is finding a useful starter piece of wood that has a partial hole or cavity where a branch used to be on the tree. Step two is to use a hole saw to drill a hole into the backside of the wood into the cavity so you can enlarge it. You may have to use a chisel or a sawzall to remove excess material. I used both tools to remove a few small bits. Step three is to use a pair of tin snips to cut vertical strips all away around the top of a tin can. After you have cut the vertical strips use a pair of pliers to fold the strips down ninety degrees to make tabs for securing the can to the wood. Step four is to center the can over the hole on the back of the wood. Use some short wood screws to drill through the metal tabs to secure the can to the back of the wood. Step five is to screw a piece of one by three to the feeder to attach it someplace so you can use it for photography. Here is a sample image from this morning of a Red Breasted Nuthatch that came to get some black sunflower seed that I poured into it. This afternoon I photographed a little bit more with the knothole feeder. Here is a Chestnut Backed Chickadee coming in for some seed.

A Typical Hummingbird Set Up

Hummingbird Photography

Photographing perched hummingbirds is one thing but photographing them flying is another story altogether. So I need a really, really fast shutter camera or shutter speed for photographing hummingbirds in flight. Right? No. Actually what you need is a really, really fast flash or better yet several flashes.

The best flashes for hummingbird photography are hotshoe flashes that have a manual setting that allows the power of the flash to be reduced to 1/16th power or less. Hotshoe flashes have the unique ability to shorten their flash duration as the power is lowered down. Most hotshoe flashes on 1/16th power have a flash duration of 1/5,000 of a second or faster. Studio flashes won’t work as well for hummingbirds in flight because they don’t work this way and the flash duration is too long to be effectively used for hummingbirds.

I use a Canon EOS camera so I stayed with that line when I purchased my flashes from KEH Camera. I purchased some Canon 540 EZ flashes. These flashes can be manually dialed down to 1/128th of a second though I set mine at 1/16th power.. There is a trade off however. In reducing the power of the flash you also reduce its effective range. At such a low power the flashes need to be placed under two feet or less from the hummingbird.

I use six flashes that are all placed less than two feet from the feeder spout. Two at 45 degree angles on the background. One flash above the subject and one below. The other two flashes are at 45 degree angles above and to the sides of the subject. They are aimed at a point about seven inches away from the feeder to catch the hummingbird when it backs up to take a break from feeding. A typical set up uses flowers placed close to or in front of the hummingbirds feeder spout. Often times I will also include flowers just behind the feeder as well.

I do my hummingbird photography in the shade. My yard has a lot of sun so I use an instant shade pop up that is 8 feet square. That way all of light is coming from my flashes and I’m not hindered much by ambient light. It’s also a pleasant place to photograph on a hot sunny day.

I mount all the flashes on light stands and old tripods and I trigger them using a wireless flash triggering system. There are a wide variety of triggering systems out there. I use Ishoot Snipers and they work really well.I purchased them from
http://www.photoloving.com/ for a very reasonable cost.

Backgrounds of a wide variety and colors can be used. I place mine about four feet behind the feeder. Some photographers use a blow up of out of focus flowers as a backdrop. What ever you use make sure it is large enough to cover your area behind the feeder. My personal preference is an olive green backdrop made of painted Masonite hardboard.

Exposure is dependent upon the flashes and your cameras sync speed. Typically I use a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second at Fstops ranging from of F13 to F18. I prefer stopping down to keep the hummingbird in focus.

For focusing I manually prefocus on the tip of the hummingbird feeder with my camera on a tripod. Then I turn the camera so that it is pointed to an area with the feeder spout just out of the frame. The camera position is about six feet away from the feeder.

For lenses I use one of two telephotos. I use a Canon 100 to 300 IS or a Canon 100-400 IS. When using the 100-400 I use Kenko extension tubes so I can have a closer focusing distance.

To do hummingbird photography having a hummingbird feeder is critical. I put mine up in early spring filled with a mixture of plain white sugar mixed at a ratio of one part sugar to four parts tap water. I have about eight hummingbird feeders in my backyard. (You don’t need eight. One will do) When I photograph hummingbirds I take all of the down except for three of them under my shaded pop up. I use a single spout feeder to photograph. A multi spout feeder can be used. Just block off all the feeder spouts except one with tape.

With hummingbirds it is a bit of a waiting game. If you don’t use a blind you must sit as motionless as possible with your fingers on the shutter release. Wait for the hummingbird to begin feeding a few times before you start blasting away with the flashes. Start off slow and eventually they will get used to the flash. Usually the best time to click the shutter is when they back off from the feeder to rest a bit. Most hummingbirds do this. They will move forward and feed and then back off four to eight inches or so and hover there for several seconds before moving forward to feed again.
So put some gear together and go out and have some fun.
Happy Humming and God bless,
chris

Kayak Camera Support

This week I modified my Kayak Camera support. I added a shelf to make it more stable and I lowered the support so that it is now right at eye level.
The support was built using a piece of 6 inch by 1/4 inch thick aluminum stock. I took the stock to a local metal fabricator and I had them bend it on their press. I then attached two four foot pieces of aluminum angle bracket as feet to support the stock piece by drilling and bolting the pieces together. I added the wood shelf to make it more rigid and add a little storage space for filters and lens cleaner etc. The support slides easily back and forth in front of me so I can push it forward when I want to paddle. It works great.

God's light and love,

chris

Newest Floating Blind

Greetings to all,

I can always remember seeing the ultimate floating blind. I really do mean the ultimate. I was trying to get some beaver pictures in a pond alongside the American river in Sacramento, California with my float tube blind. As I was shooting I noticed a guy show up and launch the coolest floating blind I have ever seen. It looked exactly like a floating log with bark and all. There was a door that popped open in the top of the log like a cockpit of a fighter aircraft. The photographer laid down belly first into the log and shut the lid. There was a knothole shaped opening on the end of the log for the camera lens to poke out of. To top it off there was an electric motor to propel it slowly around the pond. It was really cool. Perfect for an agile, small person not older than twenty five years of age. Believe it or not I don't fit any of those qualifications anymore? In fact I don't think I was ever agile and small. Well.. maybe when I was under twelve years old.

Now more to the point. I have been looking for a small boat that could be used as a photo blind. It would be powered by an electric trolling motor. It would have to be small, stable, and light enough for one person to move around. I have used canoes and kayaks in the past and gotten good results but I didn't feel very comfortable in them. I also happen to own three kayaks and after paddling around for two or three hours I can hardly stand up and walk. At least my kids can still use them. Duck boats looked promising but they were pretty pricey and weren't as stable as I would have liked. I have met a few photographers that love them. They also wouldn't work as well for fishing when I wasn't shooting pictures.

After a lot of searching I finally settled on a very small pontoon boat. Pontoon boats can go into really shallow water. Most of them are lightweight weighing in at around a hundred pounds. They can hold two people and most are rated to carry around 500 pounds. They work for fishing and you can stand up in one without fear of it capsizing. They are a little big for car topping but it is doable.

There were quite a number of models to choose from. I chose the Bass Raider 8 from Pelican. It has a higher freeboard than most models and it had the flattest hull shape for stability. Size wise it is very small. Coming in at one inch less than eight feet. Price wise the Pelican was in the middle of the pack. I ended up buying it online from Wally Mart and they delivered it right to my front door. Prices were competitive from Dicks Sports, Fog Dog and a few other places.

Next on the agenda was to purchase an electric trolling motor for it. I didn't need a lot of power because you need to approach wildlife very,very slowly or they will disappear before your very eyes. So I bought a Minn Kota Endura with a short thirty-six inch shaft and thirty pounds of thrust. If you have the bucks and can spend it go for one of the pricey models that come with a foot controller so that you can shoot photos and steer with your feet! I then purchased a deep cycle 12 volt marine battery for it. With life jackets, a paddle and an air horn the boat was ready to go.

The next step was to build a light weight PVC frame for it. I made one that can be broken down flat into four parts for easy transport. The right and left sides are the first two panels they fit into the cup holders on the sides of the boat. Next the front is snapped to the two side panels with two large caribiner clips. Lastly the top and back drop onto the side panels with four wooden dowels that slip easily into place into PVC "T"s at the four corners on the top. I then took the frame out into the front yard and spray painted it.

After making the frames I covered the top sides and back in a heavy Dacron material that is waterproof. I just used short decking screws and screwed the material right into the PVC. Luckily for the sides I had some material for a blind i no longer use and it already has camera ports and zippers already sewn into them. For the front of the blind I used a a small three sided pop up blind. I added on a small piece of dacron and camo to the bottom of the pop up blind to cover the front hull of the boat.

Following that I bought some camo netting at an Army surplus store. I cut out pieces of camouflage to cover each panel. These i attached using an awl to punch holes in the Dacron and cinching the netting to the panel with black electrical ties. The last and final step was to add a little bit of 3D to break up the square shape of the blind. I did this by adding a variety of green silk plants I got at the Dollar Tree.( Hey, Dollar Tree when are you going to offer me that corporate sponsorship? )

The last step was to find a swiveling office chair on wheels. I put some plywood in the bottom of the boat. That way I can turn around to steer and I can also easily roll around the boat to shoot out of the different shooting portals.

Coming up at a later date I will post some images from my Photo Barge. I've got to come up with a better name than that.

God's blessings to all,

chris

DIY Provide a Perch

One of the best tools a bird photographer can have in her or his possesion is a pair of pruning shears. For what you may ask? Well for providing perches for the birds you photograph to land on. For those of you that are old hands at backyard bird photography there probably is no need to read on. For those of you new to photographing birds this is one of the best tricks of the trade in photographing birds in your backyard and sometimes in other places too.

So what do you need? Not much really. Just a pair of pruning shears or a limbing saw and access to your own yard or someone elses with permission to cut some twigs, limbs or even whole small dead trees. Just wander around the property and look for plant material that you can cut off that would make a nice perch for the birds you want to photograph. Don't limit yourself to just dead parts of plants either. Look for plants with blosoms, leaves or fruit. Just be sure what you cut off isn't going to damage the plant you are pruning. One other thing to take into account is that some of the smaller birds sometimes don't always photograph well on really large limbs or branches. There are exceptions to this of course for example the banch may be covered in moss or have an incredible wood grain pattern.

So now that you have gathered a bunch of perches what's next? Well a lot depends upon what type of bird feeders you have. You can tape, tie, wire or drill your perch to the feeder. Start with just one perch. (You can use the others later) Just make sure that it sticks out from the feeder in a natural sort of way for the birds to land on. Keep in mind that the whole idea here is to provide a perching place for the birds to use that are coming to your feeder. Some people even place it on a pole a few feet away from the feeder.

Remember that birds don't weigh a lot so you don't have to have a major construction project here.Most birds like to use a feeder that is close to cover they can dive into if they sense a predator. So you need to place your feeders about ten to fifteen feet away from suitable cover such as a hedge or bush. Take care here to place the feeder in a position where you have a good background back behind it. A good back ground should be uniform in color and uncluttered. Often times the same hedge or bush will do.

With regards to feedrs the best kinds are ones that can be moved easily from place to place so that you can change the background or position the feeder for better light. Also check with your local birding store. There are different types of feeders for different birds. In my yard my primary feeder is on a cart so I can move it from place to place. Sometimes it will take the birds a few days to locate its new position however.

The perches you provide don't always have to be small tree parts either. In the past I have used lichen and moss covered rocks and even tree stumps. Another photographer I know that photographs raptors (birds of prey hawks etc.) dug up a large dead tree on a friends property. He had it hauled on a flat bed trailer to a large field where hawks hunt a lot. He then used a backhoe stand the tree back up into a hole to shoot pictures of hawks using the tree as a perch. So be creative.

Once you have your feeder and perch situated find a hidden spot to photograph your birds from. You can shoot from behind the curtains from a window in your house or set up a blind nearby. Whatever the case enjoy taking some shots of your favorite perching birds.

All of the sample pictures were taken using perches that I have placed next to my bird feeders. Most of them were attached to the feeder using wood screws or bailing wire.

God's light and love to all,

Chris

DIY The Most Comfortable Blind Ever

Greetings from smoke filled Northern California,

Yes, it's true. I have a blind that has a TV, fridge and a computer w/ internet. It's also heated. On top of that it has the most comfortable chair I have ever used in a blind. So before you think I'm nuts. (I know many of you do) Let me state simply that the most comfortable blind in the world is the office inside my house. Quite simply I do a good percentage of my bird photography right out the back window of my house. I place my rolling feeder in appropriate lighting with a good background right next to my office window. There are holes drilled in the rolling feeder in which to place branches of different types for perches for the birds to land on.

To create a blind out of one of your windows can be as simple as tacking up a piece of fabric over the window with a hole in it for your camera. I like something a little more secure so I use a piece of 1/8" masonite that is cut to the window size.
To create it I first measure the window and then cut the board to size. I then tape pieces of strips of towel around the outside perimeter of the masonite to keep the windowsill from geting scratched up. Following that I sit down in front of the board with my tripod set up with me sitting in the chair I intend to use for shooting out of. This gives me a really good idea of where to mark the opening that I need to cut in the masonite for shooting. I then cut the opening and then place it back in the window to see if it works ok. Sometimes i may need to modify the opening with further cuts. The last and final step is to tape a piece of netting or batting hanging from the top just above the hole to cover the hole up. I like to cut it in about 2" wide strips.

The flat board fits easily behind the door or it can be stored in the garage or basement ready for use. You can also cut extras for different windows in your house to shoot from.

God's blessings to all,

Chris

DIY Floating Blinds

When spring and early summer come aroundsometimes I get the urge to go jump in the water. Not to swim mind you. But to shoot pictures of waterfowl and other small critters that live in ponds and other shallow water. I use a floating blind and I will tell you that with patience you can sometimes get really, really close to birds in the water. I have been shooting out of various floating blinds for a number of years now. I use two types of blinds. One designed for really shallow water 6 inches to two feet and one for deeper water 2 feet or more. A word of warning. Most floating blinds (Human powered type) should not be used in rivers or large bodies of water where you can get blown away or swept away by the current or possibly run over by a boat.

Well I'm a bit off track here so.... On my deeper water blind I use a float tube covered with a muskrat sort of looking blind. It is essentially a 1 inch diameter piece of tubing formed into a circle set on top of the float tube. I drilled (6) evenly spaced 1/4 in. holes into this ring of tubing. Into the holes I stick (3) fiberglass bike flags. Each one is bent into a "U" shape to make sort of a tentlike support (just like a dome tent). Over the fiberglass poles I use a lightweight cotton camo material that is attached to the ring of tubing. Over that is some surplus camo netting. . The surplus camo gives it that 3d appearence. The netting is also longer so that it hangs down off the tubing so that it covers the float tube. The primary advantage of this blind set up is that it is very lightweight and it can be broken down flat by taking the bike flags out. I don't use any added natural vegitation on this blind but it probably wouldn't hurt.

My shallow water blind is called the Fred Flinstone blind. It is a 4ft x8ft sheet of styrofoam that is 6 inches thick. There is a large hole cut into it amidships so you can sit on top of it and propel yourself through the hole with your feet like Fred and Barney. It has a 1/2 inch sheet of plywood covering the styrofoam. The blind on top is made out of 3/4 inch PVC Made into a box shape about 4x4x4 I covered the blind with 1/2 brown nylon netting. Then I cut cattails and tied them up into bundles and covered the blind. Then I covered the whole styrafoam base and plywood with burlap. For the final touch I drilled 1 inch holes all over the base and stuck cattails in it. The finished blind is very 3D. It looks like a floating island. This blind is very effective in flooded fields and shallow marshes. It is comfortable and very mobile. It is not however easily transported. You need a full isze pick up. I generally leave it wherever I'm using it for the season. It takes two people to load and launch. It also has to be recovered with cattails periodically. I just tie the bundles on with natural jute fiber. It matches the dried cattails pretty well. Well how is that for a tome.

God's light and blessings to all,

Chris