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So glad i found this site!! My setup in the works...
I'm an avid outdoors-man, hunter, trapper, and photographer. Over the last several years I've started hunting with a camera instead of a bow or rifle. So, when I tell people I'm going "hunting", it means I'm going to hunt with my camera. I mostly hunt public land with occasional excursions to some friend's property. I do it year round in Louisiana. I've had a few arguments with other hunters and game wardens who seem to think we shouldn't be able to engage in photography on Wildlife Management Areas and other public hunting lands. Although, most hunters are actually intrigued and respect what I do. I'm a retired war veteran and I just tell the nay-sayers that I've done all the killing I could stand...Now I just want to enjoy nature and hunt with my cameras. HAHA
Some people respect that point of view, and others are just negative and disrespectful. I honestly don't care either way!!! The one's that are disrespectful are usually the one's breaking the law on public land anyway. My opinion is that public land is for us all to enjoy. I'm hunting but I'm not harvesting. I'm not profiting from the images or getting in the way of anyone either. Hell, I respect all hunters and make it a priority to go into the places where most hunters will never even think about going. They usually don't want to make the effort to get into the thickets and swamps that I hunt. I grew up hunting and trapping. It's in my blood. DSLR camera trapping has given me a new found joy in the outdoors. I absolutely love it!!! During the non-hunting seasons, I'll take my service dog with me to set up the camera traps and he loves it as well... I'm extremely happy that I found this community of like minded photographers and camera trappers. I had no idea there was so many people doing this on a serious level!
I've been doing "remote" camera trapping, but it's difficult to get those elusive animals. I use a Canon 70D, 3 x Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II flashes, and a radio trigger for shutter actuation. I just purchased a wireless PIR sensor setup and some Harbor Freight "Apache" (Pelican clone) cases for my flashes and camera. I plan to put one YN600EX-RT II in each small Apache case with a 6V SLA battery and hacked AA dummy battery dc coupler for power. I will mount my Canon 70D with a super sharp, 40 year old, fully manual, Konica Hexanon 35mm f/2.8 lens then put the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT flash controller mounted in the hotshoe... these will be in a larger Apache case with a PVC lens tube and clear 82mm filter on it. I'll throw desicant packets in each case for any moisture that sneaks in. I plan to power my camera and the YN-E3-RT with an SLA battery as well. I may end up using a 12V SLA and splitting the power via 2 voltage regulators to the camera body (7.4V) and YN-E3-RT (3V).. All cases will have SLA batteries and DIY voltage regulators wired in series for voltage stability. I also hope to add a DIY solar charge controller and small articulating solar panel to each Apache case in the near future. This would trickle charge the SLA batteries for longer time in the field and hopefully keep them above discharge thresholds.
This is no small undertaking... I've been testing my setup and the flash/camera sleep featues. Everything seems to work pretty good. The flashes are waking and firing properly. I've had very few problems with the whole setup. The over-arching issue is AA battery life!! The SLA batteries should take care of that. I'll occasionally get the normal black first frame, but I've figured out that a 0.5 or 1 second delay for the PIR sensor will negate that issue. I'm really excited about getting all of this built and into the woods. Ham Radio is an old hobby of mine, so I'll be building and soldering the electronic power circuits myself. I've found some AA and AAA dummy battery DC Couplers that'll work just fine after a bit of hacking. My birthday is November 19, and I'll be getting the SLA batteries from my kids as a gift. I'm hoping to have everything built by December 1, 2018... I'll play with different ideas for mounting the cases to branches and whatnot. I plan to keep my gear low to the ground for a cool perspective with a flash or two mounted high for environmental and rim lighting. One thing that is nice about the YN-E3-RT is that I can control the parameters of each flash without having to open all the cases after they're installed in the field. I only have to open the camera case to change any individual flash settings. My camera sleeps after 30 seconds. The YN-E3-RT sleeps after 5 minutes but wakes when the PIR sensor is triggered after a set delay. The flash units sleep after 15 minutes but wake the same... as long as I put a 0.5 or 1 second delay on the PIR sensor I have not missed a shot. I just keep this in mind when rigging the set.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts and viewing the photos. There are some stunning images that you guys and gals are capturing. I'll post photos of the build process and finshed setup...then hopefully some sweet images of Louisiana wildlife.
I've attached pics of my flash unit mock up without the SLA and plexi-glass window installed. I'm thinking about permanently installing a DIY plexi-glass diffusion window on one case to be used for the softer key lighting. The Harbor Freight Apache cases are $15.00 for the small (flash) cases and $30.00 for the medium (camera) cases. I'll post updates to the build process in this thread... If anyone has input, I'd be happy to hear it!
