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Thread started 20 Nov 2011 (Sunday) 11:06
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Flying Squirrel - (Need Advice Please)

 
Zipline
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Nov 20, 2011 11:06 |  #1

So this week we learned that we have Flying Squirrels that hit our peanut feeders at night. They are so much fun to watch. They're incredibly fast and will grab a peanut, climb way up to the top of a tree, and then glide across the yard. We have a blast watching them. I'd like to photograph them, but don't know how without completely blowing out their eyes (see photo below). We do have flood lights in our backyard, but they're not bright enough to not use the external flash (430EX).

I tried using Av and Tv mode w/out a flash, but couldn't find the right combination of settings. Can anyone offer me any kind of advice?

IMAGE NOT FOUND
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- Mandy
> Bodies: Canon Rebel 300D, XTi, and T3i
> Lenses: Kit Lens, Canon 75-300mm & 55-250mm lenses
> Check out my new site @ Hypnotized by Nature (external link)

  
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sandpiper
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Nov 20, 2011 11:55 |  #2

The only way I can think of to reduce the reflection from the eye, is to use flash set away from the camera so the light doesn't bounce straight back to you. I doubt that you will get rid of it entirely though. You could always fill with black later in PS, I suppose. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it, it is natural for critters at night to have shining eyes as light hits them, so it doesn't look too odd, as we naturally see them like that with our eyes. It isn't as bad as 'red eye' in portraits, where you capture something that the viewer will see as unnatural, because red eye doesn't get seen normally.

I would suggest that you use caution about flashing the squirrels in flight. Whilst the flash won't physically harm them, they will be temporarily blinded by it (just as you would be if adjusted to night vision and somebody set one off in your line of sight). If they are gliding and suddenly become unable to see for a minute, they are likely to crash into the tree they were planning to land on, or possibly even miss it completely (or hit a branch) and take a tumble to the ground. They are pretty resilient critters and should still be relatively unharmed by a fall, but there is always a risk they could break a leg and that could hamper their chances of survival.

Flashing them whilst sat in a tree though won't do them any harm, they should have enough sense not to take flight when they can't see where they are going.

As for settings with Av and Tv, you are going to have problems in that light to get anything. If you are handholding you will be struggling to get a fast enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake, if on a tripod you still need a reasonable shutter speed to avoid motion blur if the critter moves. In order to get the fastest shutter speed you can, without risking underexposure, I would suggest you use Av set to the widest aperture you can and set a high ISO. Then see if you have enough shutter speed for the lens you are using (if you are at 300mm, ideally you would want 1/500th on a cropper, but can get that down a bit with good bracing technique. IS will also allow slower speeds handheld of course, but if the squirrel is moving around you will still need at least 1/250th and preferably more (even at that, you would need to time your shots to when he was fairly still, although a pan shot as he glides would work OK with practice).

P.S. I'm jealous you have such lovely critters in your back garden.




  
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Zipline
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Nov 20, 2011 14:06 |  #3

Thanks for the info. With as fast as these guys are I don't think I could catch them in flight even if I tried. My main goal is to get them while they're sitting still (which isn't very long). I was afraid of how the flash would effect them too which is why I'm planning on limitimg it to just a few shots a night. I always try to be as resepectful to all critters that I can be. :)


- Mandy
> Bodies: Canon Rebel 300D, XTi, and T3i
> Lenses: Kit Lens, Canon 75-300mm & 55-250mm lenses
> Check out my new site @ Hypnotized by Nature (external link)

  
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Nov 20, 2011 17:31 |  #4

Well, I tried my luck again tonight and had better luck. I still ended up blowing the eyes out with the flash, but I filled them in my photo program. They didn't seem to mind the flash at all, but I still only got a handful of shots before letting them go about their business. Man are these guys fun to watch!

IMAGE NOT FOUND
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IMAGE NOT FOUND
Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

- Mandy
> Bodies: Canon Rebel 300D, XTi, and T3i
> Lenses: Kit Lens, Canon 75-300mm & 55-250mm lenses
> Check out my new site @ Hypnotized by Nature (external link)

  
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Nov 20, 2011 20:35 |  #5

How long have you been trying to attract them and how are you trying?

With us, we primarily fed our grey and red squirrels as well as the chipmunks. We've had that peanut feeder in the photo set up for a few years now, but only this past week did we discover these guys! I think we only caught them because of the time change. It's now getting dark at about 5pm here so they're coming around much earlier to hit the feeders. They are so much fun to watch. Tonight we had at least 10-12 out there.


- Mandy
> Bodies: Canon Rebel 300D, XTi, and T3i
> Lenses: Kit Lens, Canon 75-300mm & 55-250mm lenses
> Check out my new site @ Hypnotized by Nature (external link)

  
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Nov 20, 2011 21:04 |  #6

Trust me, once you get the squirrels to come around you won't have to worry about the raccoons. Our feeder is empty before the squirrels move on. :)


- Mandy
> Bodies: Canon Rebel 300D, XTi, and T3i
> Lenses: Kit Lens, Canon 75-300mm & 55-250mm lenses
> Check out my new site @ Hypnotized by Nature (external link)

  
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Flying Squirrel - (Need Advice Please)
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