3rd March 2024
Camera trapping is a new activity for me. Although I would like to think I have become pretty capable with a big telephoto lens and conventional photography, there is something exciting and different about leaving a camera trap out. I am leaving out expensive equipment, with the risk of it being taken or damaged, and have no idea if I will be rewarded until I open up the housing and check the camera. Whilst I still get a huge buzz from conventional photography, camera trapping offers a new level of anticipation and excitement at what you might capture.
Back during the Christmas break, I spotted signs of otter activity and found one spraint site that looked particularly active. I decided to set up a trail cam. On the first night I captured footage of a sika deer; not the intended target but good to see none the less. On the second night (Boxing Day), I was excited to get the footage below (ignore the date stamp, it is a pain to keep resetting the time and date when the batteries are removed). I quickly removed the camera, so as not to give away the site location to anyone who saw the footage. This is not me being selfish, but an attempt to protect the otter(s) from any disturbance by someone who might not have the knowledge to be so careful.
I had been thinking about building/buying a camera trap for some time and this gave me the impetus to get on with it. In someways I had done the most difficult bit of finding a suitable subject and was confident it would return. I now just needed to learn the nuances of camera trapping; light and sensor placement, camera settings and how to calculate the required exposure at night when setting up in daylight. This latter step requires a light meter if you want to nail the exposure first time, and I wanted to do that to minimise any disturbance to the otters. As always, a bit of research on the internet, and some experimentation using Jasper (my ever helpful dog - well at least in this case), and I was ready to go!
In late January I returned to the site, armed with my new camera trap setup. This consisted of mainly Camtraptions kit (sensor, housing and triggers), with my own custom designed waterproof flash housings. I set the kit up and left it for a week. I didn't get a single image!!! Even the trail cam I was using to monitor the wider scene, and to check for any adverse reaction from the otters, wasn't triggered. Although frustrating, this is not unusual for wildlife photography and you quickly learn to tell yourself 'if it was easy it wouldn't be fun' (definitely better than ‘what are you wasting your time for!!’).
Last weekend (end of February) I tried again. On the first night the camera was triggered but there was no wildlife in the shot. Checking the trail cam showed an otter had come through but had not climbed up onto the log and was out of shot when it triggered the sensor. Oh well, at least an otter came; a step forwards from last time. The footage also showed me that the otter had reacted to the camera going off, not ideal, but had returned quickly and continued to do its business. Deciding whether to continue was a difficult balance to strike. We never want to disturb the wildlife we are trying to photograph but images promoting them are also to their benefit, particularly for this site. I took comfort from the fact the otter quickly returned and decided that if I had adversely disturbed it, the damage was done and the otter would avoid this area for a while (i.e. the camera being there for a few more days was not going to have an impact). The next two days produced no images. As I was due to return home the following day, I had one night remaining. When I returned to the camera the following morning, I was not full of optimism that I would have an image. However, to my surprise, the otter had come through twice; once just after dark and again in the early hours, It had triggered the camera both times and I had two images. In the second, the otter was just visible at the bottom of the frame, without a head. However, the first image had the otter up on the log as I was planning and I was a very happy photographer as a result. The fact it came twice was also reassurance that I was not adversely disturbing it and that made me even happier.
This was a great result for my first attempt at camera trapping and I am hooked. I will be back to see if I can improve on my image, as well as looking for other opportunities and other species to photograph.
I hope you like the image!
