Taking Time lapse photographs
The hen would not go near the nest to feed the chick while we were present. Time-lapse photography was the only solution.
1. Equipment
The Cameras
Canon G2 (purchased 2002)
Canon 350 Rebel XT
The Laptops
Toshiba Satellites
Disable virus checking eg. avg (http://www.free.grisoft.com )
This
Mute sound
Charge battery
3. Camera Setup
-Clear images from the camera flash card
-Charge battery
4. Equipment Checklist
-Fold-up camping stool for laptop to sit on
-Camera
-USB cable
-Tripod
-Laptop
-Camera
5. Trial Runs (at home)
-Determine the time-lapse between exposures that will suit the camera, laptop and software that you would be using. This will typically be a value between 10 seconds and 2 seconds.
The time taken to save the images directly to the laptop will depend on the image quality and size (from the preferences setup). Once you have decided these values, be sure they are the ones you use in the field.
-Run the laptop and camera for the likely session time eg. 1 hour, to check the battery life of both.
-Set the camera on the tripod
-Turn on the camera
-Connect the USB cable to the camera
-Check the camera angle and camera focusing
-Connect Camera–USB cable to laptop
-Turn on laptop
-Start the software to control the camera
-Take test images to check focus and the setup arrangement
-Start time-lapse
- Be escorted out of the area by the hen :)
Photos that could only be taken using time-lapse photography:
This slideshow has 2 sequences of photos taken on 25 August 2007 beginning at 10:42 AM then the second sequence begins at 11:17 AM in the one session. The time delay between photos is 10 seconds.
Email lyrebirdman at gmail.com