taking night time badger shots

[galanthus]

Right then learned mateys. I need bit of advice; I'm spending the night at a west wales B and B next week where, as every other time, I'll be watching badgers and foxes feeding from the comfort of the bar oh joy. I'll be taking my canon 400d with me. the shots will be around 7 metres away and will be taken in darkness, however, the area is gently lit with dim lights over the rose garden. what is the best technique to use to capture the lovely things, (on camera i mean ). I would have thought my 70-300mm IS lens wld be a good bet, however, I also thought about my 24 - 70L lens or 100mm macro, hmm. I usually use aperture priority mode and would assume a large aperture and high ISO necessary ?

any suggestions very welcome pls

[Words]

Hi, I take loads of night fox photos on a 400D (see signature for plenty of examples on my site and in the Gallery here). From 7 metres I would say the 70-300 sounds a good bet to give a variety of shots, but you may want to have the 24-70 to hand. This shot was at 40mm and from about 15 feet I would guess.

I've not had much success with low light shooting though without flash. Obviously a high ISO and low exposure, but you'll need a very stead hand or tripod. And a fairly stationary fox or badger. Downside of flash from that distance is eyeshine which may be difficult to avoid. I try and get closer for most of my shots, or zoom. If you look through my 2007 galleries you'll see the settings used. For the sort of distance you're talking about ISO 400 or 800, AV set at around 7.1 and shutter at around 1/60-1/80. I tend to set the flash down by about 2/3rds of a setting. I use the in-built flash.

If you can zoom on the 300mm you may lose eyeshine but will need the higher ISO and the flash compensation set to 0 (mid-point). I find it also helps to angle the flash down slightly to avoid eyeshine, or to go off centre in composing the shot. A bit experimenting and checking the histogram will help. If you can get closer to the foxes then even better (and the 24-70 will be fine.

Good luck! Sounds like a great spot!

[Words]

Oh one other thing... focusing is tricky in the dark and the strobe-thing on the 400D is a nightmare. I always take a large maglite with me and use that to help get some light on the subject for focusing (auto or manual).

[beckiscott]

Wildlife Watching Supplies - How to Photograph Badgers

Handy website i came across... not that i've had chance to try snapping them myself yet.

[galanthus]

Great advice words and good site beckiscott, thanx to both. Will give it a go and hopefully get a half decent shot or two, will post them if I manage it.