A Recent Visitor….

I have been field testing a new sensor for Cognisys Inc. It is a game-changer for us wildlife photographers, and it has an ease-of-use factor that is beyond imagination. I won’t go into details until it’s impending product release (stay tuned), but if you have ever done any sort of beam trigger photography at all, you will want one of these. That simple.

This bobcat visited us a few weeks back. I had the camera setup as simply as possible – camera, integral flash, sensor. Yep, that simple. You can use this sensor independently of the StopShot, or with the StopShot – doesn’t matter. Did I say flexibility? So this less-than-flattering image is as a result of direct, harsh, on-camera flash.

I created a much more exotic set over the next several days, but of course, the bobcat did not return. Or if he did, he didn’t like the look of my creation and avoided it. Then the weather came. Here in the hills of Southern California, we have to deal with Santa Ana winds which, as a wildlife photographer, are a pain in the ass. If you leave any form of light modifier out, it is usually blown into the next county. Flattering lighting for nocturnal mammals? Forget it.

Nonetheless, I am determined to create an image that does this guy justice (I say guy, it could be a gal!). The cool thing with this specimen is that he is not yet tagged, but I am sure it will not be long before the carnivore tracking folks of the NPS have done their excellent work on him

Now, back to the sensor from Cognisys. It is really, really useful. For mammals, rodents, birds and even hummingbirds – but that is material for other posts…..

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 19th, 2011 at 2:38 am. It is filed under Featured, Remotely Triggered Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.