[Fat Albert]

I live in the woods, but there's a clearing that my house is in. Bats love to fly back and forth in this clearing, munching away at all the bugs. They fly within 20 feet of the roof of my house.

My plan is to place 3 speedlights with radio triggers on the roof of my house (I have easy access to my roof. All I need is a stepladder on my deck.) I can stand on the deck and shoot from probably 30 feet away from them. I'll have to preset focus and crank my shutter speed and ISO to get something useable, but I think it'll produce something. Of course, I can only shoot as long as there's enough ambient light to see the bats.

Has anybody ever tried something similar, or taken pictures of flying bats with any success?

[photolady95]

Perhaps this member could help you. If you scroll down, he explains how he did it.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/12-post-your-photos/299614-nature-flying-...some-food.html

He seems to know what to do.

[derekkite]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/125-flashes-lighting-studio/300605-bats-again.html

The key to very sharp shot of a bat is to find some way to get them into a very small, maybe half meter cube where focus and exposure is perfect, then trigger the exposure. The motion is frozen by 1/16 power of the flash units.

If you can't see them some kind of trigger mechanism is required. I can see them; the activity is at dusk and the dark sky is reflected off the water, so I can trigger them manually. Is there some light source far away or the sky where you can place yourself, see them approach and trigger? Or figure out some natural pathway where they emerge at dusk? Or a food source they repeatedly return to?

At 1/16 power with three flash units you can get exposure at maybe 12 feet or so. 1/8 works ok if they are coming straight at you giving you a bit more distance.

Welcome to a fascinating and extremely difficult technical challenge.

[Fat Albert]

Oh man! The bar is set really high by those two members.

[derekkite]

Oh man! The bar is set really high by those two members.

No, just the first one which I am trying to attain.

It is fun. Getting a great shot where I shoot is going to be a matter of chance; the bat being in the exactly right place when the flash fires. Doing something interesting will be a bonus. But I enjoy the challenge, I have learned enormous amounts about handling flashes and how the whole flash photography thing works. As well as the technical details of timing and triggers, coding and soldering. This is photography at the very ragged edge of possible, where a slight adjustment increases the odds by a few percentage points. I got one decent shot last year, and started the year with one that is equivalent, so look forward to getting something a bit better.

I have learned that cheap hardware is cheap.

As well, word gets out and people are telling me about roosts and places where they pour out at dusk.

And nothing beats standing in the dark and hearing the flap of their wings as they decide whether your ear is an edible insect or not.

[Fat Albert]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/125-flashes-lighting-studio/300605-bats-again.htmlIs there some light source far away or the sky where you can place yourself, see them approach and trigger? Or figure out some natural pathway where they emerge at dusk? Or a food source they repeatedly return to?

Imagine an area about the size of a football field. My house is right in the middle. They fly back and forth--the long way--as they eat. I can see them coming all the way from one tree line to another, as long as there's enough residual light in the sky. They usually start chowing right after sunset, so I've got about 45 minutes of time to work with.

[derekkite]

How dense are they? I'd look for a natural channel, or even better a food source that they return to. I doubt that their pattern is random. A 50mm or even 35mm lens is wide enough that you should be able to capture some action. Focus about 15 feet away, f8 ish, spread your flash units out a bit to avoid hot spots. I mounted them on a 5 foot long piece of aluminum angle iron and the quality improvement was noticeable. Set to 1/8 power on manual. You can zoom the flash one or two notches further than the match of the lens, throwing a bit more light further out without serious vignetting. Give it a try. Watching them for 45 minutes a few nights in a row will probably help in recognizing their behavior patterns. I tried to make my setup location independent as their patterns change with the weather, winds and as the season progresses.

I use a variety of rechargeable batteries for the flash units, Duracell precharged NiMh 2400mah, or Eneloops. At 1/16 power I can do a quick burst of 10 shots without the flashes missing. Three of them in a row overheat the batteries or flashes and they rest for 5-10 seconds or so.

[Billk]

My plan for this summer is to get big flocks of flying foxes on the move in natural light right around dusk. Three months of planning to go.

Anyone with experience getting that kind of shot? Much simpler than the amazing shots on this thread but I imagine there is still a knack to it.