Wildlife at low light/night.

[redwing210]

I have an assignment for the photography course which I am attending, the brief is to take photos at low light or at night. I have already got the ones I need showing light trails etc. I wonered if there are any (common) animals or birds that photagraph well at low light, as I need to show a subject and wanted to avoid more shots of my wife!!

thanks
redwing

[mh68]

Hedgehogs would be my suggestion, easy to locate, easy to approach and tolerant of photography.You`ll have to be quick though as theyre starting to hibernate now....

Mark H

[Brocker]

How about swans. The reason I say this is that I have just done a similar thing. If you can spot a swan close enough for your lens to pick out the details of its face and you can time it for a clear night just after sunset, when there is still detail in the sky then the bird is almost illuminous. Just after dark swans tend to be almost motionless so will also be good for a slow shutter speed.

[ron1863]

Try city foxes. There are hundreds in all our cities and they should photograph OK in street light.

[eeyore]

not on nature as such but you could also try star trails - if you go to an area where there isnt much light polution on a clear night and lock the shutter open with the camera on a tripod pointing straight up for anything from 10 mins to an hour - you will get curved/ circular trails from the stars caused by the rotation of the earth

be aware however that you may also get red and green lines caused by passing jets.

you could also find an interesting gnarled tree or building such as a church or ruin and try the painting with light technique where you lock the camera on a long exposure and then light up bits of the subject with a pencil torch with a narrow beam - or a flash gun , or a laser pointer - depending on how you are feeling.

[Blackbrook Eye]

Robins, find a bush close to a streetlight and there is a good chance you will find a robin singing into the early hours, I have counted five tonight on my walk with the dog, and that is about three miles at one thirty this morning.