With the help of a "Phototrap" device and multiple flashes, I was able to photograph Pallid Bats, making their nightly visit to drink from a man made pond.The location was in Green Valley, AZ
Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 600mm II
Tripod with Mongoose head
Cable Release
f14
20 seconds
ISO 400
Last edited by donaldmullaney; 05-26-2014 at 09:16 PM.
Hi Donald - Welcome to the Wildlife Forum. Great to see something different. Sharpness and exp look good. I like the dark bg. I am away and viewing on an uncalibrated netbook so will leave color to others. I do wish that you had shifted the comp up a bit to include the entire reflection. Is 20 seconds correct for the shutter speed?
It would be great if you would add your thoughts to other people's images. We recommend posting comments on 3-5 other images each time you post an image of your own. It's the best way to get the most out of BPN and fosters the feeling of community.
Thanks all for looking!.......Don, my other bat photos don't show that "thread", could it be carrying nesting material? ...........Tobie, the photographer has little control over the scope of the shot, sometimes I had 2 bats fly through the "field" during the 20 seconds and this "double exposure" look, also I had photos of large moths.....Rachel....Thanks for your welcome!
Lovely image, the front on makes it special
Great details seens and the open mouth adds a lot to the fantastic image
I may like more reflection if you have it makes it more dramatic with the dark surroundings
Superb work
Welcome, Don, and thanks for posting this image and its details.
I too wish you had more reflection included, but with a setup like this it's not something you can control eh?
I'm assuming it's a 20 second exposure with rear-curtain sync flash??
A warm welcome to BPN Wildlife, Donald! And what a brilliant first post, congratulations! I have been toying with the idea of capturing the local bat population flying over the swimming pool, I read your information with much interest, thank you. Love this image, beautiful detail on the face and wings, killer BG - so dramatic, to top it all that wide open mouth and the determined look on the face of the subject! Looking forward to your future posts!
This is a very dramatic capture with wide-spread wings and that awesome open mouth showing the teeth! Your photo trap set-up sounds interesting and certainly there is some pre-image time spent in putting it all together and the hoping for such a great angle. Not knowing what that white line is I would consider cloning it out. Easy enough to do with such a plain black bkgd. I doubt nesting material since the bat is actively feeding. Possibly excrement in motion & highlighted by the flash . Looking forward to seeing more of your photo trap images! Maybe post one of the "double exposure" ones in OOTB forum. (this is shameless promotion since I am one of the moderators there!)
Thanks Andre and Nancy!....To Nancy,thanks for the invite to OOTB. There is a good chance I didn't save those "doubles", I'll check. To Andre, there were 4 flashes and I can't say for certain what they were set at, perhaps 1/16 power. I had two setups there, a Canon 1D Mark IV with a 600mm and closer to the pond, a Canon 5DIII wit 70-200mm @ 200mm. Perhaps I need to put together a half dozen of the shots taken that evening and put them on my website. There are 3 bat shots in my "SE Arizona" gallery at
Pallid Bat
. Looking forward to seeing more of your photo trap images! Maybe post one of the "double exposure" ones in OOTB forum. (this is shameless promotion since I am one of the moderators there!)
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