Hello from NYC

[Mattie]

Hi guys!

After months and months of lurking, I finally decided to briefly introduce myself. I'm Matt, a 34-year old Dutch transplant living in New York City. I've been photographing for years, but camera trapping is a new adventure for me.

I've recently deployed my first homemade DSRL camera trap at a friend's house in the Catskills. Although there's plenty of wildlife in NYC, I haven't found a spot yet where I could set up my camera trap undisturbed.

This forum truly is an invaluable resource when embarking on a homemade DSLR trap project. I hope to contribute to its collective knowledge in the time to come!

Below, one of the first decent images my camera trap took. I was actually hoping for an animal to walk towards the camera through the opening in the wall, but instead I got a long-haired weasel running over the wall from left to right. It's not 100% in focus, but good enough for web viewing. Shortly after this photo was taken, a black bear came along and demolished my set. I found my camera knocked over; PIR sensor was dislodged; and my speedlights were ripped from their plastic rain covers and laying unprotected on the forest floor! Both speedlights were however still working fine, even though they'd been on the ground for 3 weeks during which it definitely rained a few times. Luckily the bear damage turned out to be minimal and the set is up and running again.

Technical details:
Canon EOS 550D in Pelican Case-type housing; Camtraptions PIR v3; 2 Nikon SB-28 speedlights on modified Pixel TF-322 hot shoe adapters. All connections are wired using waterproof connectors.

[westcocanuck2]

Welcome aboard Mattie,

Sounds as if you have been officially christened in the fraternity of cameratrapping. You'll soon grow fond of those Bears before long and will miss them once Winter hits. They add another element of excitement IMO.
I should add, that's a very good camera and lighting set-up for your first game camera. Was that the stock zoom lens you used here?

[johnnydeerhunter]

Welcome to Camtrapper Mattie. That's a great catch to get, especially on one of your first sets

[Mattie]

I should add, that's a very good camera and lighting set-up for your first game camera. Was that the stock zoom lens you used here?

Thanks! Yes, I use the standard kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II).

Welcome to Camtrapper Mattie. That's a great catch to get, especially on one of your first sets

Thank you!

[greengrass]

Welcome Matt and great first picture. That's how you know a bear visited your set, happens a lot to me and everyone here when you're in bear country. Had cameras set up for 4 months only to find that when I returned the night I deployed the camera a bear pulled it off a tree. Looking forward to seeing more picture from you, I'm sure you're going to be posting some awesome stuff in the future too.

[cameratrapcodger]

Glad you are on-board -- and what a fine first camera trap photo -- a weasel in a stone wall, said to be one of their favorite foraging areas.

[Woody Meristem]

Great catch on the weasel, some folks wait years to get a photo of one. You've done really well for a first-timer. Bears are always a challenge because they're intelligent and curious. My cameras are protected in steel boxes, but that's difficult with a DSLR camera trap.

[ghosthunters]

Welcome aboard


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[DJA]

Welcome Mattie, great first catch, thanks for sharing.