paulcolleyuwp

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Choices, Choices...

Considering my choices for bat photography in preparation for a Royal Photographic Society fellowship project. #RPS #lovebats

I’m working up a project for my Royal Photographic Society fellowship and have settled on something that will be an artistic expression of bats in flight, most likely by using the night infrared photography techniques that I developed over the last two years.

I’m looking for a distinctive style of image, which is something that the fellowship submission must capture. The photography has to…

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Unfinished Business

The updated laser photo trap with a perspex light reflector

Well the recent warm weather led to the first reports for 2019 of bats making early excursions outside their winter roosts. I had a privileged first look at some lesser horseshoe bats inside a roost when I accompanied a licensed ecologist on a routine bat survey. It was a reconnaissance trip for some photography there later in the year.

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2019/02/24/unfinished-business/

Unfinished Business

The updated laser photo trap with a perspex light reflector

Well the recent warm weather led to the first reports for 2019 of bats making early excursions outside their winter roosts. I had a privileged first look at some lesser horseshoe bats inside a roost when I accompanied a licensed ecologist on a routine bat survey. It was a reconnaissance trip for some photography there later in the year.

Although I’m gearing up to photograph some new species this year, there’s unfinished business with the Daubenton’s bats. I really would like to finish that ‘Battle of Britain’ shot. The aerial combat between bats and insects that can leave artificial infrared vapour trails in their wake to show the overall movement in the scene. And also a properly executed back-lit portrait to reveal the beautiful fine fur that keeps these little bats warm.

To that end, I’ve designed a new experimental lighting system. Using the laser trigger system that I developed last year, the bat will be lit principally with forward light from the camera position, but I’m adding a snooted INON optically-slaved strobe for back light and, crucially, a perspex sheet just under the water to bounce light back into the scene and hopefully produce a more even fill to soften what have thus far been quite harsh shadows. It’s a clear perspex sheet, but I’ve painted the underside black to make it invisible in the final image. It will sit a few millimetres below the water surface, mounted on the tripod and rig that holds the laser trigger. As usual, the camera will be accurately pre-focussed on the laser beam that triggers the flash when the bat flies through it. The embedded photo gives you the idea.  The sighting rod is taken away after the camera is pre-focussed.

It may work. It may not. But without this kind of continuous experimentation, I would never know! Results – good or bad – will follow when the bats start flying in earnest.

All the best, dear friends.

Paul

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Covert Light at Night: a New Experiment for 2019

Covert Light at Night: a New Experiment for 2019

One of the great joys of the British Wildlife Photography Awards publicity was a rapid and broad engagement with an interesting range of people.  Most were fellow wildlife photographers and conservationists, but more productive for my technical education has been a dialogue with a scientist who understands the infrared spectrum far better than me.  I already knew Bob Fosbury from a previous…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/12/21/covert-light-at-night-a-new-experiment-for-2019/

Covert Light at Night: a New Experiment for 2019

One of the great joys of the British Wildlife Photography Awards publicity was a rapid and broad engagement with an interesting range of people.  Most were fellow wildlife photographers and conservationists, but more productive for my technical education has been a dialogue with a scientist who understands the infrared spectrum far better than me.  I already knew Bob Fosbury from a previous engagement through the Royal Photographic Society, which we both belong to.  But at our last meeting it became clear that one of his credentials, an Emeritus Astronomer at the European Southern Observatory, could be profoundly helpful in my bat photography project.  Bob worked for 26 years at the European Space Agency as part of its collaboration with NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope project.

Our discussion in recent weeks opened up a possibility to improve the efficiency of my infrared photography system and so perhaps achieve an even better balance between the creativity that I seek and the high demands of achieving good infrared exposures at night.

Getting to grips with covert light at night: a full spectrum approach

The idea was immediately obvious to Bob, who suggested that I was losing efficiency and probably paying more than I needed to by working with expensive narrow infrared bandpass filters on both the camera and the lighting system.  Instead, he wondered if a better approach might be the one that astro photographers use, which is to work with full spectrum cameras and then control the incoming light with off-camera filters.

Bob did some tests and supplied graphs that show how different filters work and the impact that they might have on different light sources.  His argument was very convincing and I did not hesitate to pack one of my infrared cameras off to Advanced Camera Services (the company that has done all the infrared conversions for me thus far).  Today my D750 arrived, newly converted to work across the full spectrum of visible light, ultraviolet and infrared.  It’s now one of my more expensive cameras, but only because of the multiple experimental conversions it has been through!  I am also modifying my flash guns to emit a broader range of infrared.  And an infrared security light will provide the constant light source that opens up more creative imaging possibilities.

Nikon D750 converted to work full spectrum

I hope to complete some practical trials early next year.  With so many new opportunities opening up for access to bat projects through both the Bat Conservation Trust and my local Wiltshire Bat Group, I’m confident that 2019 will be a productive year for new images of bats hunting at night.  But I’m also trying to document other bat behaviours, because I can now work more closely with trained specialists who have the necessary licences.  With trips to Egypt, Raja Ampat and the Maldives already in the diary too for underwater work, I think 2019 is going to interesting!

Have a great Christmas and a peaceful New Year, dear friends.

Paul

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Baggins the Bat will accompany Paul in 2019

Baggins the Bat will accompany Paul in 2019

Baggins approves of bat friendly photography lights

The Bat Conservation Trust very kindly gave me a rather charming fluffy bat that had accidentally been separated from its originally intended owner (who has another one on the way). Serendipity for me. Baggins the Bat will now accompany me as a good luck charm for all bat-related work in 2019.

Baggins checking out one of the 2019 infrared…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/11/19/baggins-the-bat-will-accompany-paul-in-2019/

Baggins the Bat will accompany Paul in 2019

Baggins approves of bat friendly photography lights

The Bat Conservation Trust very kindly gave me a rather charming fluffy bat that had accidentally been separated from its originally intended owner (who has another one on the way). Serendipity for me. Baggins the Bat will now accompany me as a good luck charm for all bat-related work in 2019.

Baggins checking out one of the 2019 infrared photography rigs

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Is a full spectrum camera the answer for night infrared bat photography?

Is a full spectrum camera the answer for night infrared bat photography?

The great value of sharing information openly is that people add to it.  During a recent presentation about bat photography to a combined Royal Photographic Society Western Region and Bristol Photographic Group, an exchange of information about infrared photography created another of those magic ‘lightbulb moments’.

A difficulty with narrow infrared windows: compromises with wide apertures create…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/11/18/is-a-full-spectrum-camera-the-answer-for-night-infrared-bat-photography/

Is a full spectrum camera the answer for night infrared bat photography?

The great value of sharing information openly is that people add to it.  During a recent presentation about bat photography to a combined Royal Photographic Society Western Region and Bristol Photographic Group, an exchange of information about infrared photography created another of those magic ‘lightbulb moments’.

A difficulty with narrow infrared windows: compromises with wide apertures create depth of field problems (image not as sharp as it should be)

It now strikes me that there is no need to create artificially narrow infrared windows for a camera to see the world through, because at night you can actively control the spectrum of infrared light coming in to the camera.  That is easy, because I had already worked out how to modify flash guns to cut out visible light, which is a bat-friendly technique.  But it also seems that there is no need to use custom made expensive narrow bandpass filters (my current solution), because all I might need is a short wave (visible light) cut off filter.  They are cheaper to make.

The combination of these modifications to both my cameras and my lighting system should create much greater efficiency in infrared light transmission.  If this works, I might have solved my problem of working to such fine tolerances to get a good infrared exposure; it has always been on a knife edge and demanded high ISO to compensate.  Which means the technical standard of future images, noise and depth of field in particular, could improve.

I’ve done the theoretical work, talked to some infrared specialists and ordered the necessary modifications to cameras and infrared lights.  With more opportunities opening up now courtesy of the superb BWPA publicity, 2019 could be a very exciting year for night infrared photography!

Best wishes dear friends

Paul

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/11/04/heart-and-soul-the-british-wildlife-photography-awards/

Heart and Soul: The British Wildlife Photography Awards

It was emotional winning the 2018 British Wildlife Photography Awards, because it was a lengthy heart-and-soul commitment to risk experimental infrared photography techniques in a quest for unique pictures of bats hunting in the dark.

This meant days of wildlife and technical research, months designing, building and developing the low light and infrared photography rigs and over a year for the hundred-plus field trips.  It was rightly constrained by a mandate not to disturb the Daubenton bats which are protected by law through the offices of Natural England and the Bat Conservation Trust.  The infrared spectrum offered an option that was gentle to the bats, but with exciting creative possibilities.

Converting artistic vision into reality inevitably involves setbacks and it demanded relentless problem solving.  I almost gave up one night after standing waist deep in cold water with bats flying all round me for nearly five hours, but for no useful result.  Yet such defeats, carefully analysed, eventually paved the way to success.

The project is well-documented and I had already scheduled a talk and exhibition in Oxfordshire for 9th November, so that will now become the first public presentation of the work after its initial unveiling by the BBC and at the British Wildlife Photography Awards.  If you’re interested in finding out exactly how I captured these bat images, please book a ticket here.  I will donate all the money to a local community project.

Now it’s time to celebrate an important milestone and bask in a little glory at the London awards ceremony on Tuesday.  An uplifting and exciting end to this journey, which already feels like the start of an even bigger one.

Best wishes dear friends

Paul

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Heart and Soul: The British Wildlife Photography Awards

Heart and Soul: The British Wildlife Photography Awards

It was emotional winning the 2018 British Wildlife Photography Awards, because it was a lengthy heart-and-soul commitment to risk experimental infrared photography techniques in a quest for unique pictures of bats hunting in the dark.

This meant days of wildlife and technical research, months designing, building and developing the low light and infrared photography rigs and over a year for the…

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Photographing Bats: An Ephemeral Confluence of Requirements

Photographing Bats: An Ephemeral Confluence of Requirements

When patience is a virtue: aligning myriad requirements

You can never imagine how many requirements might drive that killer image you have in mind. I’m still chasing that “Battle of Britain” shot.  Bats and insects in an aerial dogfight.  So near and yet still so far.  The insects have to fly in numbers to draw the bats in so you need to understand something about entomology.  The weather is…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Wildlife Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/10/02/photographing-bats-an-ephemeral-confluence-of-requirements/

Photographing Bats: An Ephemeral Confluence of Requirements

When patience is a virtue: aligning myriad requirements

You can never imagine how many requirements might drive that killer image you have in mind. I’m still chasing that “Battle of Britain” shot.  Bats and insects in an aerial dogfight.  So near and yet still so far.  The insects have to fly in numbers to draw the bats in so you need to understand something about entomology.  The weather is vital.  Moon phase (background ambient light for infrared), wind (lack of it to avoid fuzzy environmental backgrounds on the long exposures) and temperature (the bats become inactive below 10 degrees C and parts of me start to freeze after too many hours in the water).  The technical set up is now pretty robust, but there’s always a new idea and therefore some tweaking day-to-day.

And then there’s the bats.  Daubenton bats (Myotis daubentonii) are to a large extent creatures of habit and partly predictable.  But you never know exactly where they will concentrate until you’re on the spot and changing location over water and in the dark, even by a few metres, requires great care with 240v running round some of the infrared lighting set up.  And I try hard not to be complacent about expensive gear balanced on bespoke rigs over the water.

Finally there’s that bit of luck that you need to get a killer composition.  You can create the conditions for it to happen, but there is no fine control, because the bats fly random flightpaths at up to 40Km/Hr.  But it’s a fabulous challenge and however ephemeral these interlocking requirements are, I think there will eventually be a confluence that leads to a great image.

Best wishes, dear friends.

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As Blind as a Bat? Reflection and Perfection

As Blind as a Bat? Reflection and Perfection

I have cause for reflection as the bat project reaches a critical stage.  Although I’ve shown the work in progress to a few trusted friends, I’m still not ready to break cover with all of the images. Partly because I set myself a technical and artistic standard that I’ve simply failed to achieve. It’s frustrating.  But experience suggests that strategic patience could pay handsome dividends.

This…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Underwater Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2018/07/19/as-blind-as-a-bat-reflection-and-perfection/

As Blind as a Bat? Reflection and Perfection

I have cause for reflection as the bat project reaches a critical stage.  Although I’ve shown the work in progress to a few trusted friends, I’m still not ready to break cover with all of the images. Partly because I set myself a technical and artistic standard that I’ve simply failed to achieve. It’s frustrating.  But experience suggests that strategic patience could pay handsome dividends.

This image gives me plenty to celebrate. It’s a step toward my declared artistic vision and almost looks fake. But it was a rare moment when there was neither a zephyr of breeze nor a surface ripple created by the myriad water birds that inhabit the lake at night. The Daubenton bats usually have to duck and weave around water birds with a fluency born of long practice.

A Daubenton Bat (Myotis daubentonii) hunting over water

The image is not unique. People have done this kind of thing before, if perhaps not to the standard that I’m seeking. But my parallel work in the infrared spectrum might be unique and that seems to have enormous potential to realise my artistic vision. As I indicated this week in a closed presentation to the British photographic Society that I chair, the technical aspects of night infrared photography against this very fast moving small target are demanding.

All British bats are protected species, so my work with them follows engagement with and advice from the Bat Conservation Trust and Natural England, the agencies most closely involved with the bats’ welfare and protection. The key issue for photographers is not to create any disturbance to the bats’ natural behaviour. My approach has been to stay away from roosts, which requires a special licence, and only to photograph bats hunting on the wing in the wild.  Also to minimise artificial visible light sources and/ or use passive infrared, which is almost invisible to the human and bat eye. Contrary to popular belief, whilst the bats use ultrasound to navigate and hunt with an extraordinary precision that the photographs will reveal, they are not blind. They have eyes and can sense changes in light levels, if not see the visible spectrum in any detail. The pleasing correlation between photographic approach and bat behaviour is that these amazing little creatures will fly within inches of the cameras (and occasionally me) whenever I deploy the automated rig into the field.

I’ve been asked to do some public talks about the story behind this project, which has interesting personal, technical and artistic content.  The first will be on 9th November 2018 at my local village hall. It will be a not-for-profit fundraiser for my local choir, but if you want to get the inside track on what might be some world firsts in bat photography, buy a ticket and hear the story!

Best wishes my dear friends.

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The Bat Project - the Small Stuff Matters!

The Bat Project – the Small Stuff Matters!

The Daubenton Bat hunting flightpath, illustrated using strobe lighting at about 20Hz In this project, my artistic intent was to create images of UK wildlife, but in a way that others have not, specifically by capturing the essence of a bat’s hunting flightpath and associated behaviour using only still images. As the bats react to the current cold weather by going into their winter torpors, it…

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New Post has been published on Paul Colley Underwater Photography

New Post has been published on http://blog.paulcolleyunderwaterphotography.com/2017/11/29/the-bat-project-the-small-stuff-matters/

The Bat Project - the Small Stuff Matters!

The Daubenton Bat hunting flightpath, illustrated using strobe lighting at about 20Hz

In this project, my artistic intent was to create images of UK wildlife, but in a way that others have not, specifically by capturing the essence of a bat’s hunting flightpath and associated behaviour using only still images. As the bats react to the current cold weather by going into their winter torpors, it seems timely to document where I got to with the work.  It’s one of my better documented projects and just below is an infographic that captures the effort thus far.

The Bat Project in Numbers…

Spring boded well.  I quickly conceived and built a working bat speed trap with a laser trigger and a decent potential infrared camera set up, but I did not make particularly fast progress. The bat in question is a tough target.  Weighing only the same as a couple of teaspoons of sugar and not much bigger than a computer thumb drive, it zips along at an impressive 40km/h…in the dark of course!  But the high number of image failures, which I classify as images that I would never publish, suggested something more than difficulty was the issue.  The lesson I deduced was, when working with such a demanding target, not to carry small technical faults in the set up, but instead run them to ground immediately.

The small things really add up.  I got so enthralled with the potential of the photography and the subject that I let too many little things slip, for example: the quality the pre-focussing technique, the amount of infrared light power, the occurrence of infrared artefacts when using high ISO and, above all, the accuracy and responsiveness of the lighting set up.  So now that the bats are not flying, I’ve spent a few days in my workshop, re-designing and re-building these critical parts of the set up (and a few others too).

Aa 3-axis gimbal and mirror for accurate laser positioning

I now have a rock-solid technique for VERY accurate pre-focussing using a purpose-built target board, a dedicated infrared focus light and maximum magnification in camera live view.  The project also needed a more reliable optical slave for one of the remote flash guns, which work

A modification for more reliable optical triggering

in the visible and infrared light spectrum.  But also an ability to simultaneously trigger three pre-positioned flash lights (normal or infrared) and an easier way of adjusting those lights for both position and power.  A mirror mounted on a 3-axis gimbal now allows greater control over the reflected laser light, so more reliable camera and/ or flash triggering at peak action. Experience in the field suggested it might be important to trigger either the camera and flash simultaneously, or the flash at the critical moment, having already opened the camera shutter.

Laser and receiver: heart of the system

The photographs illustrate some of the technical changes.  The photographs so far are not quite there technically, so I’m not yet putting too many images of bats into the public domain.  But I cannot wait to start using this refined set up next Spring when the bats start flying again.

My take away lesson.  Deal with the small stuff immediately and don’t let it accumulate into something that starts inhibiting your artistic vision.  Both are inextricably linked.

The Daubenton Bat hunting over water

Have a wonderful holiday break followed by a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

All the best, Paul

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