Show us your setup and the final result!

I guess hardcore is when you start drilling 1/2 inch holes through rocks to improve upon the fountain in your drip pond.

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^^^^ WoW

macdaman wrote in post #14431705
^^^^ WoW

Wow indeed. That is the definition of hardcore. Much respect.

^^ crazy setup. total camouflaged!

Agreed, absolutely crazy setup there^^^^^
I'm no birding expert, but I remember reading somewhere that regardless how good your camouflage is, they still can "sense" your presence, but as long as they are comfortable with you being there, they'll be more than happy to do their thing, and for you to take pictures of them...have you found that having such an elaborate camouflage actually helps? Not trolling or anything...I mean, huge props to you for going through all this effort to get the result that you're after, just curious to see if it works, that's all..

Kevin Hall wrote in post #14401374

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serious setup you have..on your flash stand did the workout weights solve your problem with the wind knocking it over?

It doesn't matter if it's camouflage or not, it could be pink and the van is actually white - a known distress and alarm color in nature.

Most birds and other animals do not associate vehicles or structures with danger. So it's a matter of putting something up between you and the set up so that they don't see movement - that is what they sense and they do it very well. That is why just putting on camouflage clothing isn't as effective as sitting in a blind, the clothing may be hard to see but it can't hide your movement - you must be perfectly still with some of the more skittish subjects. You are free to make movements without consequence if you are in the blind. It could be screaming neon polkadots in color as long as it masks your movements.

The umbrella is the smallest PLM - a 51 incher. It is a kite in windy conditions. In the area where I've set up for the pictures there wasn't much wind and I was able to get away with just the Boa Bags. There are 30 pounds of weight on the stand in the photo and placed so that it resists wind pushing the umbrella backwards - sometimes I stake all the legs down with sandhogs as well. Other times I can't put the umbrella up due to too much wind. I'm going to remedy that with a large beauty dish at some point. I have broken umbrellas before and probably will again, what you don't want to do is break a flash or strobe.

Kevin: Outstanding setup and results! When you actually snap a shot, I would imagine that the flash and/or sound scare the birds. Do you have to wait long between shots or do they usually return soon?

Kevin Hall wrote in post #14430509
The van is easy, here is a closer view:

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The materials are camou but that is irrelevant, the idea is to use darkness (shade and shadow) to mask all of your movement. The bottom half is an Ameristep ghillie poncho that I attach to a couple of cargo net hooks on either side of the van. The top portion is a bungee cord attached to the rear seatbelt anchors on the ceiling. Then on the bungee are two drapes cut from camou mesh and attached with some mini clips. I blackout the front windshield behind me with a sunshade, close the shade on the sunroof, and take advantage of the factory tint on the windows. The camera is mounted on my tripod and I use a small stool just like in my Doghouse blind.

More can be viewed in my laboratory at the tools gallery on my website.

I love it! Sniper photography. Thank you for sharing!
Seriously, when I ask questions of some they will not share info.

HA! That's because they want you to pony up $1000 + for a workshop or $50 for a CD.

Maybe I should keep this stuff to myself and charge for it, that's the way you make money in photography these days......... not with images but selling to other photographers, seriously. I'm a terrible salesman though, and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing even if someone would pay me to stop.

Why not set it out here? I've got a good mind, full of ideas but so do plenty of other folks. Maybe someone see's this and puts a better twist on it - a chance for us all to move forward some more, yes?

Ix nay on the iper snay though, don't need any jack booted thugs knocking on my door.

Flash can be disruptive, but in my experience, it isn't an issue as often as you might think or as some would have you believe. I would say that if you have the flash mounted on your camera and you move it into position for your subject, then fire the flash, the spooking is going to be a result of the combination of the movement followed by the flash more than just the flash. Does that make sense? With a wireless triggered flash set up on a light stand there is no motion involved with the flash, only the light and some noise. Guess how often it spooks a bird? I can count on one hand the number of times it's happened since I began using off camera flash in February of 2010.

Sometimes they flinch, but they don't flee. Most don't even react at all, especially since I've added the umbrella to the mix. The reflected bounce has a bigger effect but also is less direct. I don't have bird recycling issues, I wish I could say the same thing for flash recycling. Even with the added battery packs I'd still like some faster times to keep up with my frame rate.

Very cool idea, again thanks for sharing

all lighting in this shot cost less than $40 total, there were flicker issues however, so I understand why Kino-flo's are desired

setup

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/lukecs/72103913​20/

Peter Hurley springs to mind

Good results though. I like it

I like the result too! Although the two light "stripes" reflecting in the eyes make the eyes a bit snake-like I think. Cool effect though

Not sure what kind you used, but if you didn't, buy high frequency "flicker-free" bulbs. You can also get different color temperatures.