Backcountry bobcat

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:50 pm

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:35 pm

Gorgeous shots, CM! You sure those weren't taken at the Natural History Museum?

New equipment?

Post by **HikeUp** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:46 pm

Wow...getting all fancy on us! Nice!

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:46 am

Amazing shots CM. But since you didn't copyright that first image, Ima use it without permission or attribution. He, he.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:59 am

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑Amazing shots CM. But since you didn't copyright that first image, Ima use it without permission or attribution. He, he.

Oh noes! There goes my career as a professional bobcat photographer!

This is a custom camera rig that Denis (Vermenton) built. A Canon 40D with two off-camera flashes. I waited 6 months for a particular @#4*(!! lion to walk by - before this camera was there he came through at least once a month. But nooooo.

Anyway the bobcat was a nice consolation prize. I've moved the camera nearby to where I was seeing the lion's tracks recently. Now I'll just wait some more!

Denis also got a shot recently of a gray fox with a gray squirrel in its mouth! Darn squirrel was almost as big as the fox! I didn't know they were such good hunters.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:39 pm

cougarmagic wrote: ↑This is a custom camera rig that Denis (Vermenton) built. A Canon 40D with two off-camera flashes. I waited 6 months for a particular @#4*(!! lion to walk by - before this camera was there he came through at least once a month. But nooooo. Anyway the bobcat was a nice consolation prize. I've moved the camera nearby to where I was seeing the lion's tracks recently. Now I'll just wait some more!

Denis also got a shot recently of a gray fox with a gray squirrel in its mouth! Darn squirrel was almost as big as the fox! I didn't know they were such good hunters.

Wow! What's the power source for the flash units? Do you have to check the camera frequently because of low battery issues?

Also, judging by the shadows, how far away are the flashes and at what angles are they positioned?

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:40 pm

Just four AA batteries inside, no external power. They last about three weeks, unless there is a whole lot of activity (like meddlesome bears).

The flashes are about 6 to 8 feet away from the cat. Maybe two feet off the ground, one on either side of the camera about 4 feet to the side.

We tried three flashes here for a while. I thought I could do some interesting things, lighting up the tree in the back for a splash of interest, but I never got it to work. Also, the camera fires off a 6 shot per second burst, and it's very hard for the flashes to recycle that fast, so as the batteries get lower, we tend to get only maybe 2 shots that are well lit out of the 6. Denis is always looking into modifications though so I expect in the next few months he'll come up with something that works even better. It's fun stuff!

Trying to figure out ISO, shutter speed, etc when you have no idea what time of day or where exactly your subject is going to come by is kind of ridiculously difficult.

Gene · Post by **Gene** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:09 am

Two words: Professional Grade

RichardK · Post by **RichardK** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:57 pm

Stunning! Absolutely stunning!!

atomicoyote · Post by **atomicoyote** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:08 am

That first picture makes a really nice wallpaper background on my wide monitor at work.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:14 pm

atomicoyote wrote: ↑That first picture makes a really nice wallpaper background on my wide monitor at work.

That makes me super happy!

Post by **tekewin** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 4:36 pm

Incredible shots. Cat looks like she was posing for the shots.