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Avoid those long vigils...

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:09 pm
by jamesweightman
When following life histories some events can be elusive and require close monitoring unfortunately as they occur quickly and often at "unsocial" hours! To this end I have found a remote control timer useful which are relatively inexpensive - about £20. An example can be found on Amazon : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Timer-Remote-Sw ... mote+timer
To obtain a hatch sequence of a Speckled Wood egg hatching (q.v. species album) I took batches of exposures at 2 minute intervals over a 4 hour period (120 images). Although I did not witness it visually I obtained a usable sequence of 9 images in 3rd such batch. Needless to say adequate battery and memory are required before each session! Also leave adequate frame space to allow all the action to be covered.

Re: Avoid those long vigils...

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:17 pm
by Trev Sawyer
That's a good idea James - never thought of that!
I have one of those devices which I used one night last year to record star trails through the frame of a radio telescope in a nearby village. The sensor in a digital SLR heats up if the shutter is left open for extended periods (a film camera doesn't have this problem and can just be left open for the duration of the total exposure), so the timer helps to capture many individual 1 minute shots which can be overlaid via software to produce the trails (as the Earth rotates in relation to the stars).
Startrail30.jpg
Trev