Lighting experiments

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.

Comments

Experimental macro flash diffuser

The abundance of insects over the last couple of months has been a perfect opportunity to experiment with different macro flash setups. Using a standard speedlight as-is isn't really an option, as the light is projected out much further than the front of the lens (which is exactly what you'd normally want a speedlight to do) and is much too harsh. There are therefore two problems that need to be solved; diffusing the light and directing it closer to the front of the lens. There are of course multiple commercial solutions available, such as the Canon MT24-EX or the Sigma EM-140 ring flash, but these are all relatively expensive and unlikely to be an option to anyone wanting to experiment with macro photography. A speedlight however is much less of a barrier to entry. A few different prototypes were made but the design I settled on was a light pipe style design that captures the flash light and funnels it down to the front of the flash. Of course, it would be ideal to hav

Macro diffuser update

I've simplified the macro diffuser that I open sourced last year . The MK1 version required printing out a custom lens hood which would only attach to a Canon 100mm macro lens. The MK2 version no longer requires a custom lens hood, it simply clicks on to the hood of whatever macro lens you might have making it far more versatile and easier to print. The tested lenses so far include: Canon 100mm Canon 180mm Sigma 180mm Sigma 105mm This hood helps reduce harsh shadows you often get when using flash but the main advantage for me is that the head can be positioned depending on how close you get to your subject. This is the typical kind of result I'm getting with this setup now. To build your own version you just need to print the model and supply a few basic parts: M3 x 40mm Hex Head bolt (the shape of the head is hex, NOT the shape of the tool used to tighten it). M3 wingnut. Diffuser material. I use the plastic casing found on some notebooks and it seems t

The laser trigger module overview

The laser trigger module is the most useful gadget to come out of the camera trigger project so far. It is a simple board that controls up to two lasers with sensors to detect if the beams have been broken. The electronics involved in detecting a broken beam are very simple so using a microcontroller might at first glance seem to be unnecessary overkill, but using a microcontroller gives a significant amount of flexibility in a small and inexpensive package.

CameraTrigger

Search This Blog