Thank you..

Thank you Tim. Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it...

Hi Nigel, thanks very much for the feedback and really pleased you enjoyed the video. 👍

Thank you Jeff, that's really kind of you.. all the best.

Thanks a lot Martin. I'm glad you like them and can see the improvement. Appreciate the support..👍

Thank you Malcolm - that's very kind..

Thank you Kevin 👍

Thanks a lot Andy..

Hi Andy, thanks for the comment and glad you liked it. Thanks for subscribing and very pleased you found me on social media. All the best..

Thanks Steve..

Thank you Paul. There are other sensors out there such as passive infrared ones and a company called Camtraptions do a very nice wireless version which looks great. What I like about the laser triggers is you can be very precise when you want the camera to fire. Lining them can be a challenge but they work for me. Do check out the Camtraptions website also.

Thanks Nick..

Thanks...👍

Thank you 👍

Thank you. 👍

Thank you..

Thanks 👍

Thank you Clive.. all the best

Thanks Neil..

Cheers Jamie..

Thanks very much Dean. Really appreciate the comments and glad you enjoyed it..

Thanks Joe..

Thanks very much Ron..

Thank you very much. Glad you like them. All the best..

Thank you..👍

Thanks Bill..

Thanks Anthony

Thank you Rich. That's very kind of you..

Thank you Harvey 👍

Thanks a lot John. Glad you like the video. They are more precise. I think both systems have their advantages. Just depends which one fits your needs. Good luck with them if you buy them. 👍

Thank you Peter..

Thank you Nigel..

Thanks Ian..

Thanks Adrian..

Thank you. Very glad you like it. 👍

Thanks Alex.

Thank you..

Hi Ivan, thanks very much for the comment and subscribing to the channel. I've not released one in a while now but have a few in the pipeline. Thanks again

Hi Ryan, thanks for you message and glad you like the video and find them useful. In terms of focus and getting your images sharp it is down to f stop and focus length. With long lenses you have a very shallow DOF show try and stop down to something like f8 or smaller for maximum depth of field. You will need to add more lights though. For owls on a post, I focus on the centre of the post and lock it down. That way when an owl lands and you have a half decent dof it should be in focus. I sometimes out an object on top of the post to mimic a focal point. As for owls in flight after dark. This is planned and really only be done if you know what direction the owl approaches. You need to visualise the final image you want to achieve and the plan the laser position to achieve that or wait and watch and trigger the camera manually. It's a lot of trial and error..

@@SimonWantling Thank you very much for getting back to me Simon. Thanks for the great advice, i will certainly put it into practise. That,s why i like Wildlife Photography so much, lots of trial and error, and lots of patience, and when it pays off, i love it even more!

Hi Owen, thanks and glad you like the video. It's certainly not an overnight method and have taken weeks for them to start coming in. I'm also feeding smaller birds in the area is there are pheasant feeders which draws on the mice and voles and there are a aweful lot in the field. This hence brings the owls in over time. K do find that both tawny owls and barn owls can't resist a perch. It just takes time. 👍

The equipment is mentioned in the video. It's a cactus laser trigger and cactus reciever.

Thank you Pete. Yes, flash is definitely possible and you would get better results although the use of flash on owls after dark is something I'm not a huge fan of but I'm not saying you shouldn't. I just prefer to use these continuous lights as it's totally up to the owl whether they land or not and not land on a post in the dark and suddenly flash guns fire which might startle the birds. The stands are just normal light stands but I would recommend using a bank stick you would use for fishing as they are much lighter and easier to take on location. Thanks

Hi there and thanks for the comment. Sure, the lights I was using were the Rotolight Neo's but any cheaper battery powered LED bank will do. I also use the Yongnuo ones on Amazon. The poles I was using were extendable fishing bank sticks and in order to fit them to camera threads you need to buy an adaptor. I brought these. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N132CZ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qkaqFbDWV4TPW

Hi Andy, thanks for the comment and glad you liked it. In this video I'm using the Rotolight Neo's which are a colour accurate LED light. You don't need anything this expensive though to do the same. I just had these for a studio project. There are some much cheaper LED lights on Amazon by Yongnuo which would work just as well. 👍

@@SimonWantling Thanks Simon ill look into it!

Hi David. Thanks. Yes I use the Rotolight Neo's but you don't need to spend that much money as they are really designed for high end video and studio work. You can find some much cheaper LED banks on Amazon or similar places so please consider that option also. Just need to be battery powered of course. I think Yangnuo do some decent lights at a cheaper price.

Hi, thanks for your comment. Really appreciate that. Sure, the bag I was using was the Gitzo 45L Adventury bag. I brought it as it can fit the 600mm and a couple of pro bodies but also within requirements for carry on luggage for the airlines. I've used it a lot when travelling to Iceland. Hope that helps.

@@SimonWantling Thanks! That nice to hear. A Manfrotto salesperson have been trying to convince me to buy one of the Gitzo adventure bags every time I meet her at photo fairs here in Sweden ... :) Nice to see one in action.

Thanks. No, I feed the smaller birds with seed and there are pheasant feeders in the area so that pulls in a lot of mice and voles which you can see running around as I walk through the field. The owls are drawn in by those.. 👍

@@SimonWantling I see, I do have a tawny calling close to my garden but have left the odd treat but normally the magpies pinch it the next day. Keep up the great videos, a real fan!!

Thanks Joel, that's a very good point and I did in fact record that but decided to leave it out as I didnt like the way it came across. Basically, I focus on the centre of the post in terms of depth and then switch the camera over to manual AF to stop if acquiring again. It will as the post is lit but may be slower so you risk missing an image. Hope that helps..

Hi Simon Love your stuff, I remember seeing your Little Owls in an FB group I’m in but I think you may have left, I have a Canon bridge camera only, would this set up work with that? Is the camera left off and the trigger turns it on for instant shots? In a burst or? Hopefully this is possible with my SX60, if so I will look at getting infra red sensors and the trigger and also the lights, how much are the lights? Thanks so much Darren in Hampshire 👍🏻🤩✌🏻♥️📸

Hi Darren, Thanks for your comments and glad you liked the video. I would need to check but I don't see any reason why it would work with your camera. The lights I used were very expensive and I have them anyway for a studio project I was working on. You don't need to spend lots as any battery powered LED bank will work just fine. Yongnuo do a nice one on Amazon and I own them also. The camera is always on and all the Tigger's is send a signal to the camera to fire once the beam is broken. It's just a fancy remote shutter released that you would use on many cameras Yes I left Facebook. I didn't get in with it. Got a bit sick and tired of all the advertisement and some pretty nasty comments so left that a couple of years ago. I found the whole experience a bit toxic to be honest. Hope that all helps and thanks again.

@@SimonWantling thanks for replying and for the info, I really appreciate it, looking forward to more Badger work. Keep doing what you do, I am into it all the same as you but on a much smaller scale haha, your work and vids are very inspiring and helpful, you are a legend 📸♥️👍🏻🤜🏻🤛🏻

Cheers Darren..

Thank you. I left a link to the Cactus company in the description. Didn't like to leave a direct link to where you can buy them. I brought mine from Amazon though. Thanks

Hi, no problem, they are actually fishing bank sticks with a thread adapter in the end. Saves lugging around big light stands which is what I used to do.

Thanks Simon.

Will certainly give that a go. Not common or easily found in my part of the world but an interesting challenge. Thanks

@@SimonWantling you are welcome, i have been trying to take picture of them fore days and it is not easy even with a big heard it still is hard to find there tracks

Hi Arthur, thanks for the comment and I'm glad you like it. The laser triggers have a huge range on them so either side of a post is no issue. The range is 10s of meters.

@@SimonWantling thanks for your response so quickly.. fantastic photo. Just getting into watching wild life myself.. really helpful.. one last question, will you try to film deer and if so be using the same format???

Hi, glad you're getting into wildlife photography. I would really only use this technique for photographing animals after dark but you could do if you wanted to. If you don't have a long lens then it certainly can help getting close to the subject. You can use the triggers during the day and the good thing is that you can pin point when and where to trigger the camera. If you're looking to get into camera trapping then I'd also recommend a company called camtraptions. They have a website. 👍

Hey Andrin, thanks for the comment. These owls regularly land on these posts. I've been watching them for years. There are feeders around for the small birds plus the posts are close to some farm buildings where grain and animal feed is stored so they perch up looking for mice that come to feed in the fallen grain etc. I have found though that both tawny and barn owls love to sit on a post anyway so will generally come and investigate it. Thanks 👍

Hi Darren, thanks for your question. Basically, I use AF to focus on the centre of the post and then I switch over to manual. The reason in doing this is when the subject breaks the laser beam it will tell the camera to try and acquire focus and although it could do so with the lights on the post, it may take a while before fully focused and you could miss the subject. Hope that explains it. If you have any further question then head over to my website and you can email through there. Thanks..

Hi Stefen , although I appreciate your comment I can guarantee these were captured using continuous lighting. The first image shown was captures as your saw using 2 continuous lights the flight landing was using 6 lights and the other one was using three. The more lights used the faster the shutter speed. Try it..