My garden pond - grateful for advice

[Red Robin]

Originally Posted by King Edward

Another torch-watching tip is to hold the end of the torch underwater (so long as it's waterproof, of course). That way you cut out surface glare entirely. I recently bought a Zebralight H51 which is pretty good for close-up pond watching, not least because you can adjust the brightness as appropriate. It is quite expensive though.

....Perfect! That's now on my shopping list.

So, it's waterproof, need not be attached to its head band, and has varying strength of beam. Perfect spec.

If using a Zebralight under the water surface and camera above (mine's not waterproof), would that result in reasonable photography?

[jpscloud]

Originally Posted by Red Robin

Keep a low profile and position the torch so that you're not illuminated and so that the torch doesn't shine directly at your newts eyes. Approach the pond edge slowly as if to pretend that dawn is breaking... albeit rather fast!

Oh my goodness... I'm going to feel like a navy seal!

Speaking of midge larvae, I can spook large clouds of them back into the water soldiers where they hide by creeping up to the pond and allowing my shadow to fall on them.

If there are so many midge larvae, does it mean their predators are not around or not in abundance? Am I going to spend all my disposable income on insect repellent this year?

Edit... actually I'm not sure if they're midge larvae or mosquito larvae!

[King Edward]

Originally Posted by Red Robin

....Perfect! That's now on my shopping list.

So, it's waterproof, need not be attached to its head band, and has varying strength of beam. Perfect spec.

If using a Zebralight under the water surface and camera above (mine's not waterproof), would that result in reasonable photography?

Yes, out of the headband. The angled head is also useful for underwater use, although perhaps not quite so comfortable to hold for general use. The top setting gives a pretty bright light, but it gets through batteries pretty fast so you'll need rechargeable AAs + charger.

I'm not sure about using it for photography but I suppose it's worth a try. You'd cut out the glare, but it really does illuminate every single suspended particle in the water which would show up in the photo, especially for small objects.

About the midge larvae, there are a lot of species that don't bite humans but I wouldn't like to guess what yours might be. I don't think it's likely to be a major problem though.

[Red Robin]

Originally Posted by King Edward

Yes, out of the headband. The angled head is also useful for underwater use, although perhaps not quite so comfortable to hold for general use. The top setting gives a pretty bright light, but it gets through batteries pretty fast so you'll need rechargeable AAs + charger.

I'm not sure about using it for photography but I suppose it's worth a try. You'd cut out the glare, but it really does illuminate every single suspended particle in the water which would show up in the photo, especially for small objects.

....I'm not too fussed about the bits in the water showing. My photos tend to be 'as it is in the field' rather than immaculate studio plate camera style shots.

No prob with AA or AAA batteries - I mate of mine gets them for me in bulk. I have a recharger but don't like that system much - The rechargeable batteries deteriorate and the whole process then gets tedious.

Anyway, thanks for the info - It sounds like a torch well worth checking out and I notice they have a range.

[King Edward]

I've been using a decent charger and Eneloop AA rechargeables, which are supposed to be of very high quality and don't degrade too much over time. No problems with those so far. I always found that using disposables has a negative psychological effect i.e. I don't use the item so much because I know it's costing.