Menu
JUDI LAPSLEY MILLER + PHOTO ARTISTRY
  • Home
  • Buy Art
    • Prints
      • All prints
      • Birds of a feather
        • Sweet Dreams (ruru)
        • The Chase (pīwakawaka)
        • The Secret (pīwakawaka)
        • A real kiwi joker (kiwi pukupuku)
        • Bursting out (kākāriki)
        • Winging it (kākā)
        • Popping up (takahē)
        • Emerging (kākā kura)
        • Unfurling (tūī)
        • Abracadabra (kererū)
        • Autumn (kākā)
        • Muriwai (tākapu)
      • Birds of the world
        • Over the moon (red-tailed black cockatoo)
        • Contented (kookaburra)
        • Dreams of Freedom (dollarbird)
        • Her Majesty (eclectus parrot)
        • Whirlybird (scaly-breasted lorikeet)
      • Flights of fancy
        • The Selfie (kākā)
        • It's about time
        • Professor Polly
        • The big idea
        • A quick study
        • The web of life (toutouwai)
        • The reckoning
        • The scenic route
        • The bird watcher
        • Uncharted waters
        • When I sing my heart ascends
      • The beloved tūī
        • Portrait of a tūī
        • The Sign of the Southern Cross (tūī)
        • Nightlife
        • I shall ride every storm (tūī)
        • From Whence Cometh Evil (tūī)
        • Sad wings of destiny (tūī)
        • The Collector (tūī)
        • The Spy (tūī)
        • Unfurling (tūī)
        • Forever calling me (tūī)
        • A portrait of a tui 2
        • A portrait of a tui 3
        • In all his glory (tūī)
      • Awesome forces
        • All at sea
        • He came to me...
        • Adrift
        • The emergence of flight
      • Visions of Zealandia
        • Visions of Zealandia
        • An urban jungle
        • Imagine
        • Break on through...
      • Support Zealandia
      • A cacophony of kākā
        • Baby kākā
      • Wildlife Photography
        • A new view
        • His resplendence (tūī)
        • The Sweetheart (kākā)
        • Portrait of a tūī
        • After midnight (kiwi pukupuku)
        • Dreaming big (takahē)
        • Baby Takahē
        • The Poser (scaly-breasted lorikeet)
        • The Watcher (blue and gold macaw)
        • The Fighter (rainbow lorikeet)
    • Framed Artworks
    • TinyArt Gifts
    • Gift Certificates
    • Stockists
    • Buying Art FAQ
  • Letters
  • Stories
  • Challenges
    • Art of Birding 2021
    • Art of Birding 2020
    • Art of Birding 2019
    • Art of Birding 2018
  • About
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Buy Art
    • Prints
      • All prints
      • Birds of a feather
        • Sweet Dreams (ruru)
        • The Chase (pīwakawaka)
        • The Secret (pīwakawaka)
        • A real kiwi joker (kiwi pukupuku)
        • Bursting out (kākāriki)
        • Winging it (kākā)
        • Popping up (takahē)
        • Emerging (kākā kura)
        • Unfurling (tūī)
        • Abracadabra (kererū)
        • Autumn (kākā)
        • Muriwai (tākapu)
      • Birds of the world
        • Over the moon (red-tailed black cockatoo)
        • Contented (kookaburra)
        • Dreams of Freedom (dollarbird)
        • Her Majesty (eclectus parrot)
        • Whirlybird (scaly-breasted lorikeet)
      • Flights of fancy
        • The Selfie (kākā)
        • It's about time
        • Professor Polly
        • The big idea
        • A quick study
        • The web of life (toutouwai)
        • The reckoning
        • The scenic route
        • The bird watcher
        • Uncharted waters
        • When I sing my heart ascends
      • The beloved tūī
        • Portrait of a tūī
        • The Sign of the Southern Cross (tūī)
        • Nightlife
        • I shall ride every storm (tūī)
        • From Whence Cometh Evil (tūī)
        • Sad wings of destiny (tūī)
        • The Collector (tūī)
        • The Spy (tūī)
        • Unfurling (tūī)
        • Forever calling me (tūī)
        • A portrait of a tui 2
        • A portrait of a tui 3
        • In all his glory (tūī)
      • Awesome forces
        • All at sea
        • He came to me...
        • Adrift
        • The emergence of flight
      • Visions of Zealandia
        • Visions of Zealandia
        • An urban jungle
        • Imagine
        • Break on through...
      • Support Zealandia
      • A cacophony of kākā
        • Baby kākā
      • Wildlife Photography
        • A new view
        • His resplendence (tūī)
        • The Sweetheart (kākā)
        • Portrait of a tūī
        • After midnight (kiwi pukupuku)
        • Dreaming big (takahē)
        • Baby Takahē
        • The Poser (scaly-breasted lorikeet)
        • The Watcher (blue and gold macaw)
        • The Fighter (rainbow lorikeet)
    • Framed Artworks
    • TinyArt Gifts
    • Gift Certificates
    • Stockists
    • Buying Art FAQ
  • Letters
  • Stories
  • Challenges
    • Art of Birding 2021
    • Art of Birding 2020
    • Art of Birding 2019
    • Art of Birding 2018
  • About
  • Contact

High dynamic range photography (HDR+) and kākā nestbox monitoring

4/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureFour kākā chicks about a week old and one unhatched egg. Nexus 5X, HDR+, 1/10s, f/2.0, ISO 2793
Monitoring bird nestboxes often involves lots of waiting around for mum to leave the nest, often to find there was no one in the nestbox to begin with. One way to expedite this process with some species is to use a small car mechanic's inspection mirror (which has an adjustable-angle mirror and a telescoping handle) and a flashlight to get a glimpse of the box contents. This can take a lot of futzing around to get the angles right, and some of us just don't seem to have the coordination required.

After a particularly frustrating kākā-monitoring outing with various failed attempts at using a mirror, I wondered if it might simply be easier to stick my Nexus 5X into the nestbox "porthole" and take a quick HDR+ photo without any additional light or flash. (The entrance porthole is for birds to get in and out of the nestbox - for kākā it's about 10cm wide and about 50cm above the floor of the nestbox which makes it a convenient size for a mobile phone.)

Et voila! It worked. Not only was I able to ascertain whether the nestboxes were active or not, but the pictures were clear enough in some cases to count the eggs and age the chicks, such that I didn't need to open the box. The whole process (for me at least!) was much faster than mirroring, meaning less disturbance to the nest occupants, as well as providing a permanent record of the nest check. 

I've been interested in experimenting with HDR+ after watching Marc Levoy's lecture series recently on digital photography. Fortunately, I'd just upgraded my phone to a Nexus 5X, which has the Google camera app. What does HDR+ mode do? It allows for extremely low-light photos without flash - it's nothing short of magic (but makes a whole lot of sense once you delve into the science). As Marc explains in his blog, HDR+ takes "a burst of shots with short exposure times, aligning them algorithmically, and replacing each pixel with the average color at that position across all the shots." The whole process takes 1/3 to 1 second.

This photos won't win any photography awards but it does demonstrate how new camera technology can provide new solutions to old problems. And what's nice is that so many nest monitors are already packing the technology in their back pockets (or will be once HDR+ becomes more ubiquitous). 

I can't imagine bird monitoring without a mobile device any more - I can do everything from taking audio field notes, checking my position with the GPS, consulting maps, updating the team Google Docs spreadsheets for the nestboxes, photographing the development of my chicks, and answering work emails while sitting under a tree waiting for mama bird. Though I still pack some paper and a pen, just in case technology fails me!

Note: some of you may be interested in the nestbox shown in the photo, which is specially designed for kākā parrots. It is made out of PVC plumbing conduit that is impervious to the strong beak of the kākā (who love to chew). It has a mesh base for drainage and the base is filled with wood chip. Additional wood panels are screwed to the walls as a ladder to allow the mother (and fledging chicks) to get in and out of the porthole near the top of the nestbox, and for the mother to create additional nesting material by chewing and stripping the boards. On the right side in the photo you can see the inspection door, which is only opened once it is ascertained that the mother is not in the nestbox. The rope on the left is also to help the birds get in and out, but after trialling them, we no longer recommend them, as they can get chewed and frayed.
​
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Access Octomono Masonry Settings

    Judi Lapsley Miller

    Fine art inspired by the stories of birds and the natural world. Starting with photographs, I let my imagination take me on flights of fancy. What is real and what is imagined is blurred. What is physical and what is virtual is disrupted. Bursting with colour and life.
    ​Welcome to the Art of Birding...
     

    Bird letters

    Art, birds, photography, wildlife - be the first to find out what's happening...

Categories

All
Adventures Birding
Behind The Scenes
Birds
Climate Crisis
Digital Photography
Framing
Lightroom
Photo Artistry
Photography Challenge
Photography Techniques
Photoshop
Product Review
Tūī
Volunteering
Zealandia EcoSanctuary

Archives

March 2021
February 2021
October 2020
September 2020
March 2020
January 2020
November 2019
July 2019
June 2019
April 2019
January 2019
December 2018
September 2018
July 2018
May 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
October 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
February 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016

RSS Feed

Instagram

Photo of Judi Lapsley Miller behind the camera

​JUDI LAPSLEY MILLER + PHOTO ARTISTRY

hello@artbyjlm.com
​

021-180-9633
​Wellington, New Zealand

Fine art photo artistry &
wildlife photography ​
Get joyous bird-art stories in your inbox!

© COPYRIGHT 2016-2021
Judi Lapsley Miller,
​except where indicated.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Privacy Policy