> From: Dave Morrison <>
> Subject: Re: Portadrive / Surround Sound
>
> Walt wrote:
>
>>> So, I'm currently
>>> aimed at some combo of still photos and sound. Which is a less daunting
>>> task than trying to have the video of the frog that's calling on the
>>> soundtrack. (remember, it's recorded in the dark of night
>
>
> Walt,
> I'm curious about how the frogs react to this amount of activity. Would
> they go quiet when you switch on the video light, or do they even care?
> When you're doing audio recordings, do you switch off your flashlights
> or do you "work in the dark"?
>
> dave m.
I can be recording where, without lights, you will not see your hand in
front of your face. Or, in a full moon it can be almost like day.
Depends a lot on the species. Some species are very tolerant. Though I
have not tried more than headlamps and the flash on my digital camera. A
Bird Voiced Treefrog, for instance can be watched calling from a foot or
less with lights. That is if you can stand the pain your ears will be
giving you. I've been out with groups of people watching Bird Voiced.
Others will shut up at 50' or more and are extremely difficult to
approach. And that's with or without lights, though it's easier without.
Toads will turn towards strong lights. Most others will not move in
response. But may change calls, become more wary, whatever. Each species
is different.
And still others call way out in the swamp. You will have a serious
logistics problem getting to them. And it won't be at all quiet to do
so. More than likely they will exit before you get there.
Note that I have 50 plus years as a field biologist. I know a great deal
about moving about so as to not disturb the wildlife. Not everyone would
get as close as I can. It's a matter of moving in ways that don't upset
them. Most people get in too big a hurry.
Of course for just sound, I'm often not at all close. It's when you want
to see the frog, or do photography, or video, that it gets more
interesting. A great deal of photography of this type involves a two
step process, catching is separate from photography, which is posed
where it can be more controlled. Though frogs in such situations rarely
will call. Where I can I photograph a frog as he sits, but a lot of mine
I've caught the frog and moved him to a spot where he can be wrangled
(usually by a helper) while the photos are taken. Looking through a
viewfinder when a frog jumps, he's there, then he vanishes. Something
that took you several hours to stalk and catch you don't want that to
happen.
As a routine when recording audio, since I got the Portadisc which has
switchable illumination on it's meters, I turn off my headlamp and
record in the dark except for the yellow portadisc display. The reason
for this is not to keep from scaring frogs, it's because the headlamp is
attracting large numbers of flying insects. Those hitting the mic will
mess up the recording, to say nothing of what they do to the recordist
they find so handy. When I recorded with a MZ-R30 I had to keep the
headlamp on most of the time and it was a problem. That was one of the
reasons I got a portadisc. When recording I'm usually looking in the
direction I'm recording, even if, with lights out, I can see nothing.
Helps in keeping the mic aimed.
Of course, once I'm finished recording I switch on my headlamp before
moving a foot. Never know what may have crawled up near you while you
were recording when in wetlands. The same thing applies when getting
ready to record. Only time I've been caught by the nasties it was fire
ants. Never get too distracted by something interesting to record! In my
case it was oak toads and I stopped the truck so that when I went to the
back for the recorder and mic I was standing in a fire ant nest. In
socks and sandals, my normal summer footwear. I did notice fairly
quickly, but it took most of the evening before I got rid of the last of
them out of my coveralls. And lots of them got me.
Observation - You cannot stand still and silent to record if fire ants
are biting you. Or, if you can, you are a real master of the Zen of
nature recording. I'm still working on it. I can record while being
eaten by mosquitoes, in clouds of gnats...
My routine personal lighting is three lights: A Petzel Duo headlamp with
the 5 led low beam and halogen high beam that lives on my head all
evening. If that high beam is not enough I have a 2D Maglight, usually
in a pocket or hand. And for backup I have a 2AA Maglight, mostly used
when I need to change batteries in the Petzel, though I can do that in
the dark if needed. I always have at least one 4 pac of NIMH AA's in my
pocket. If I'm going out away from the truck any distance I'll toss in a
couple more pacs. Enough for all night. If I really got caught the
Portadisc also has it's spare caddy with charged NIMH AA's in the
Portabrace case it's in. In the truck I have a sack full of 4 pacs of
AA's and other sizes. Just finished charging all those, there are 10 4
pacs of AA's in it right now. Plus some alkalines. And charged batteries
in everything I use as well. Enough to handle all my equipment for a few
days and nights, even with 2 of us using it. And I have a spare duo, a
couple spare large maglights, assorted small maglights, a cig lighter
spotlight with a motorcycle size battery in a shoulder pac for when I
really want to light up things. I routinely have enough charging
capacity in the truck to be fast charging a dozen AA's, the portadisc,
cell phone and a laptop all at the same time. For longer trips I may
toss in another 4-AA charger or two. On any length foray I recharge as I
go, normally not bothering with the fastest charge cycles as I don't
fall behind.
So, I record in the dark, but use lights at least some of the time when
not recording. For photographing I often rely on eyeshine caused by my
lights to spot the frog. The ringflash does not seem to bother frogs at
all. It's more that big bumbly thing that accompanies the ringflash.
Think about spotting, and then taking video of a Little Grass Frog. On
my website you will find a photo of a full grown male sitting on my
wife's little finger with lots of room to spare. Smallest frog in North
America. Every one I've found I was standing in water, and they were in
a grass tuft in the water. Many of their larger chorus frog relatives
call from under the grass tufts. So, you will now be down laying in the
water using a macro lens to videotape the frog. They don't really view
you as being a danger, you are so big. But I've not gotten any to call
in posed settings. And that's just one of the 31 species of Georgia
frogs. One of the easier ones. Once you get over how unbelievably tiny
it is.
There is a very good reason why I choose to document frog distributions
by audio survey.
If out late at night recording don't forget to turn all the lights out,
take the headphones off, and enjoy the night. Don't forget to look up,
if it's a quiet place to record the stars are likely to be wonderful.
Walt
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