This is a western long-eared myotis bat about to take nectar from a desert plant in total darkness. Only with sophisticated technology is it possible to photograph such an event. Two flash units illuminated the flower, and an electric beam was set up such that when a bat hovered in front of the flower, the flash units were triggered. Everyone in my workshop used the same flashes. The settings I used for this shot were 15 seconds for the shutter, f/22, ISO 800, and I used a 24-105mm lens. The shutter was locked open with a cable release, and every 15 seconds the shutter closed and opened with or without a recorded image. There were many blank frames, but this is a numbers game. You have to make many exposures to get a few good images. There were a few distracting highlights on the green stems, and I used the clone tool in Photoshop at 45% opacity to tone them down. It was challenging to expose correctly for the very dark bats as well as the bright portions of the flower.
4 Comments
Sep 12, 2018, 1:52:26 PM
Jim - Bob,
You can set the camera to a specific shutter speed, say 15 seconds, and then use a locking cable release. When the camera is set to 'low continuous' and the cable release is locked open, the camera will repeat the exposure every 15 seconds.
Sep 12, 2018, 8:38:26 AM
Bob Turner - Really good image. I have used a similar technique to open and close the shutter using bulb setting and manually opening and closing the shutter. I did not know that the shutter opening and closing could be programmed in the camera, or are you using shutter control device. Thanks.
Sep 12, 2018, 5:10:50 AM
Jim - Thank you very much, Linda. Yes, the people in my workshop here are amazed and thrilled at the pictures they are getting. It's a fascinating thing to photograph these very unusual creatures flying so fast in darkness.
Sep 12, 2018, 12:28:00 AM
Linda - That is a spectacular shot. My guess is you've worked for National Geographic. I've seen articles in that magazine with photos of bats that look for all the world like the ones you've just emailed. The folks in your workshop must be thrilled to get pictures of bats drinking from desert flowers.