They are back again this year ... on my front door! ;-)
So I have "blocked" the door to minimize disruption, but have setup a wireless webcam to keep an eye on 'em. In addition, when I see 'em leave the nest, I'll periodically setup my Canon 7D on a tripod and use a wireless remote to grab some higher quality images - bummer I don't have a way to trigger the video remotely.
Momma just laid egg #4 this morning ... so I expect to see some hatching action in about a week or so. Bunch of pictures and video of the 2010 House Finches can be seen here.
Here's the Setup
7D image - yes, I need higher shutter speed, but it's fairly shaded in there, and I don't want to put up a light to bother the birds, so I have to balance shutter speed, ISO, and aperture to get decent depth of field
Sample image from the webcam - bummer not higher quality:
p.1 #8 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
nice!
not what i was expecting though "Remote controlled 7D shoots Hous...." title as chopped off by FM site made me think it was going to talk more about using the 5D2 to shoot "House".
p.1 #9 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
Thanks for the kind comments from various folks and glad you enjoy the "show"
iots215: The thought has crossed my mind to tether the camera, but I'd need at least 50 feet to get back inside the house to a laptop ... but perhaps when the hatchlings emerge, I might see if I can at least reach around the corner.
BTW, speaking of that, after (at least) three consecutive mornings of egg laying, there was no action this morning ... so the final count is probably five ... my guess is we'll see some "action" next week.
p.1 #11 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
Yea, the D-Link image quality is poor - it's 4 years old. Since this is outside (but power available), I need a wireless webcam that is IP aware ... and there don't seem to be a lot of those options available when you also want pan-tilt-zoom unless you want to spend big bucks.
I've thought about hooking a flash up to the 7D, but am worried this might spook the birds (even at low power and bounced) ... but yea, might give a shot and see how they tolerate it.
The laptop has to physically be around the corner ... because otherwise the parents will fly the coop. So I could just go outside with it (about a 20 foot run), but then I need to monitor it. Either that, or I have to snake through the front door ... ummmm ... ;-)
p.1 #12 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
Newegg delivered a 15' USB extension cable yesterday, so I was able to remotely control the 7D via EOS Utility from the other side of the front door and get some nifty video of the Dad feeding Momma house finch - scroll down here to the April 23rd entries.
For those interested, it was shot at ISO 800, 1/30s, and F/11 - yea, I wish I had more light in there! While it's not quite macro-photography, I'm struggling with more depth-of-field ... and I should have been more front-focused on this one.
And yes, the 7D's auto-leveling on the audio results in some clipping/volume oscillation - I do have a Rode external mic on the 7D.
p.1 #13 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
One cool thing about video is you are basically shooting at 30 frames/second (ummmm ... may need to try 1280x720x60fps!) ... so you can pick the best one, although the resolution isn't quite there.
p.1 #14 · Remote controlled 7D shoots House Finches
Very cool work Alek! As usual.
Have you considered adding a continuous light source that wouldn't spook them? Even something like a lamp pointed up towards the ceiling and bounced back down that way.
As usual.