In previous posts I mentioned how the engineering side of the camera trigger project was working well but the image quality was still lacking. The poor image quality is mostly down to poor lighting so this is what I've started looking at improving.
I've previously experimented with a range of the cheapest LED floodlights I could find on ebay, and some actually appear to have potential, just not for this current application. I ended up taking a gamble on these "spotlights" from Amazon. They aren't spotlights, they have more of a strip effect but they are certainly bright.
The lights run on 12 volts so they would be suitable for hooking up to a portable power supply if taken out into the field. For testing locally though, they were hooked up to an old ATX power supply which easily has sufficient power for 4 lights should the need arise.
Here is the very simple test setup. Both lights were mounted on an old PA rig and placed about one meter from the feeder. It was unclear if this would be too intrusive and put the birds off but the only way to find that out would be to set it up and see. The weather today has been mild but windy and this once again appears to jinx birds coming in to the garden. A few tests therefore had to be done with a substitute.
The movement is caused by strong winds moving both Donatello and the feeder. The light does make quite a noticeable difference though, even if it is quite cold and harsh.
Just when I was about to take the setup down, a pigeon dropped in to take a look. This shot was taken through a window but is sufficient to prove they don't appear to be upset by the lights.
The lit foreground means there is opportunity to eliminate the background easily and create a more dramatic shot:
So the next phase will be hooking everything up together and seeing if I can start catching smaller birds coming in to land.
I've previously experimented with a range of the cheapest LED floodlights I could find on ebay, and some actually appear to have potential, just not for this current application. I ended up taking a gamble on these "spotlights" from Amazon. They aren't spotlights, they have more of a strip effect but they are certainly bright.
The lights run on 12 volts so they would be suitable for hooking up to a portable power supply if taken out into the field. For testing locally though, they were hooked up to an old ATX power supply which easily has sufficient power for 4 lights should the need arise.
Here is the very simple test setup. Both lights were mounted on an old PA rig and placed about one meter from the feeder. It was unclear if this would be too intrusive and put the birds off but the only way to find that out would be to set it up and see. The weather today has been mild but windy and this once again appears to jinx birds coming in to the garden. A few tests therefore had to be done with a substitute.
The movement is caused by strong winds moving both Donatello and the feeder. The light does make quite a noticeable difference though, even if it is quite cold and harsh.
Just when I was about to take the setup down, a pigeon dropped in to take a look. This shot was taken through a window but is sufficient to prove they don't appear to be upset by the lights.
The lit foreground means there is opportunity to eliminate the background easily and create a more dramatic shot:
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