This is a short vdo of a herd of Asian Elephants (Elphas maximus) that are spooked by something on their route. It is interesting to see some of the behavioral aspects of the vdo such as: the mature females shadowing the calfs, the leadership of the matriarch, their checking behind them and in particular the way, at the end of the vdo, three of the elephants freeze their movements so they can listen attentively to whatever it is that has spooked them.

A short clip from Thailand’s Eastern Forest Complex showing a wild pig (Sus scrofa) doing its thing – but there is a cautionary tale at the end of the video. The cutting was achieved by having two camera trap video units pointing at the same point in the frame but from two different locations.

LBK ‘Clear-View’ trail camera project: Twin W7/1010/SS1s

Two identical Sony W7s in Pelican 1010s with Snapshotsniper SS1 control boards

In 2008 when I first began building digital trail cams, I used several different models of Sony, Nikon and Canon cameras but found the Sony W7 to be one of the best producing very good quality photographs, both day and night, with its Carl Zeiss lens set to ISO 400 in ‘program’ mode. I actually use a W7 for general photography while in the field and have come to like this model even though it’s a bit large for a digital compact compared to newer models.

The W7s are robust cameras that use two AAs and are fairly quick for all-round use. The only drawback; they are tough to hack and a steady hand, good eyes and nerves of steel is needed to modify these as the connections are tiny..! Check out Buckshot164’s video tutorial on the W5-7, or the W1 for that matter (similar camera).

Components for W7/1010/SS1 trail cams.

By using the Pelican 1010, they are truly ‘pocket size’. I normally use two ‘Energizer Lithium’ batteries that can usually last a month or more. I bought 8 W7s and built camera traps around six of them but kept these two for a special job one day.

I sourced the clear Pelican cases and managed to get some of Gary’s last SSIs before he discontinued them. I also ordered the metal sensor mount for easier installation with epoxy. By laying the camera and the 9-volt battery in the deep end of the case and the sensor in the shallow end, everything just fits.

Sony W7 alongside a W7/1010/SS1 #1.

The build is straight forward, and no hole is cut in the case for the flash allowing the camera to shoot straight through. A lens snorkel and HPWA is used and there are no externals. I have tested most of the cameras in this ‘clear view’ series and the power of the flash is not cut down by the case.

A Sony W7 along a W7/1010/SS1 #2.

In fact on these builds as an experiment, I’ve installed a flash diffuser (cut from a Nikon SB26 flash diffuser) to cut back on harsh light sometimes caused by the factory flash. This idea came from an Olympus ‘dive housing’ for their U-700 digital compact shown here. My main objective with camera trapping is close frame filling shots that really show wildlife and the diffuser just softens the flash.

An Olympus U-700 digital camera in an Olympus dive housing with a flash diffuser.

A couple of aluminum boxes protect the W7s/1010s and a ‘Python’ 5/16” locking cable is used plus small ‘shark teeth’ are welded on the back to lock the cams in place on a tree. Holes are drilled to accommodate two lag bolts but these will not be used where I’m going, but later when I deploy these cams in the field here in Thailand. I have made-up one with 3D camouflage pattern and the other with 4-color camouflage paint job using fern leaves.

I have built these two for my yearly African photographic trip that is coming up on May the 1^st for two weeks. I will be going to Kenya once again, but this time will be visiting the great Amboseli (close to Mount Kilimanjaro) and Tsavo (East and West) national parks plus Shimba Hills Wildlife Sanctuary (especially after sable) and finally close out the safari at Nairobi National Park.

Completed W7s/1010/SSIs with four-color fern leaf camouflage and 3D camouflage pattern.

I hope to slip them in depending on local restrictions and laws, plus available wildlife and forests in the hotels and resorts where I will be staying on the fringes of the protected areas. In most reserves in Kenya, one is not allowed to leave the safari vehicle at any time or place other than in the hotels, and heavy fines can be incurred by the driver/guide (more than a $1,000 US dollars) if they are caught. It seems unjust but some people have already been maimed and even killed by this reckless behavior.

In 2010, I slipped a trail cam in the bush and got a beautiful shot of a giraffe in Samburu National Park and then in 2011, got several shots of the rare bushbuck (both male and female), an African mongoose and a large-spotted genet plus a night patrol ranger with a .458 Winchester M70 express rifle at Siana Springs Tent Lodge near the Masai Mara Game Reserve. It was a neat experience.

A trio of LBK trail cams with a ‘Python’ locking cable and camouflage cloth slipped over cable.

These two W7s and the S600 are some of my smallest trail cams and just right to take with me while flying abroad. Being little, they are easily carried in my baggage and set-up will be quick. I will post any pictures at a later date.

The Sumatran Serow – Capricornis sumatraenis (also known as the Southern Serow and the Mainland Serow) is another threatened species due to habitat loss and hunting, and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.

It belongs to a group known as the “goat-antelopes” and is a member of the sub-family of Caprinae along with the ibix, goral, musk ox, wild goat, bighorn and chamois. It is a rather small-bodied animal, about the size of a domestic goat, that inhabits rugged mountains and rocky outcrops, covered with thick vegetation or forest. The limestone karsts of Thailand provide a good home for wild serow. Unfortunately their numbers have been decimated in the past due to hunting for meat and supposed traditional medicine ingredients and as such they are now quite rare.

The Sumatran serow is generally a solitary animal that inhabits a small area which is well marked with trails, latrine points, and scenting points. The small area of habitat selected provides all the needs of the serow, such as sufficient grasses, shoots and leaves on which to feed during the early morning and late evening, and suitable sheltered resting places in caves or under overhanging rocks and cliffs.

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My first DSLR homebrew trail camera:

Canon 400D DSLR with three Canon 270EX Speedlights plus “YongNuo’ wireless flash triggers with AA, C and D cell externals

This DSLR camera trap has been in the making for over a year but with many great opportunities now for tiger, leopard and other interesting wildlife photographs, I decided to finish it off.

DSLR Canon 400D trail cam with three Canon 270EX flashes and wireless triggers plus ‘Python’ locking cables and stainless lag bolts less glass filters.

In early 2011, I purchased a second-hand Canon 400D with an 18-55mm kit lens with the sole intention of turning it into a DSLR trail cam. This camera has a battery pack which uses two Canon lithium batteries that can last for over a month on stand-by mode. I had a Yeticam board with a W35 chip from an old build and purchased a cheap electric cable release. I removed the shutter button and used the wire and stereo plug, and hooked it up to the board and camera. It works very well in manual focus and program mode. No internal modifications are made to the camera.

Canon 400D in aluminum alloy box with Yeticam sensor. Rubber wide-angle hood to prevent glare.

The second order of business was to make an airtight aluminum alloy box for the camera, wireless trigger, sensor and batteries. I had an old camera trap box for a Minolta SLR film camera and just modified it slightly for the Canon that sits nicely on the bottom of the box with the Yeticam board located just below the lens. A new faceplate was built to incorporate the lens and sensor. A carry handle was welded onto the box to facilitate set-up, and a tube is bolted to the faceplate for a 5/16” ‘Python’ locking cable, plus tabs are welded on for the cable and four 3” x 3/8” stainless lag bolts that firmly attach the unit to an appropriate tree.

Canon 400D trail cam and Canon 270 EX flashes with wireless triggers in ‘elephant proof’ boxes.

When I began this project, I was not sure how I was going to set-up a flash or flashes, and it seemed to be a hurdle. I was not interested in using the flip-up flash or even the large bulky Canon flashes. I made up some sync cables to run two flashes but it seemed complicated and I dropped the idea. It certainly would not work with wires running to the flashes where wild elephants would simply rip them out it if they came upon the set-up.

Canon flashes with ‘power torque’ 10mm machine screws and special wrench plus 3″x 3/8″ stainless lag bolts and ‘elephant proof’ boxes.

Recently, I found some wireless flash trigger units (FSK 2.4GHz wireless channel) for Canon (or Nikon) and made in China under the “YongNuo’ brand. They worked very well and being reasonably priced, I got two (one transceiver for the camera and one transceiver for the flash) for initial testing.Unmodified, they are interchangeable. These small units are powered by two AAAs but battery life would only be a couple of days so I modified them to use a set of ‘C’ cell externals for the camera transceiver, and ‘D’ cell externals for the flash and transceiver set. I also decided to use the relatively new Canon 270EX Speedlight flash due to its size and it uses two AAs.

Canon flash components

I picked up a couple more transceivers and flashes which were modified a little differently; Two ‘D’ cells power the transceiver and two AAs externals plus the two internal AAs power the flash. I plan on running four lithium AAs in one and four rechargeable ‘Eneloop’ in the other to test the endurance of these battery set-ups.

Machining flash hole. Set-up jig on milling table.

Sturdy aluminum alloy boxes were designed to house each flash/transceiver and AAs’ and ‘D’ cell battery packs. This box needs to be slightly flexible in positioning when installed but still tough enough to stand-up to elephants, plus it needs to be airtight to keep the electronics and batteries dry. The box is lined up on a tree and then bolted on with three 3” X 3/8” lag bolts. A 5/16” Python locking cable runs around the ‘flash box’ for extra security.

Flash boxes in the raw, with primer and camo paint job.

Next week, I’m on my way to my favorite wildlife sanctuary in Thailand: Huai Kha Khaeng. I will be setting this rig where I have captured several tigers and leopard plus sun bear, gaur, banteng, elephant and a host of other animals that visit this mineral deposit and water hole. It should be interesting and I will post set-up and photos as soon as I get some (hopefully a tiger).

Little camera traps catch top carnivores

In January of 2012, I began a new journey into Thailand’s top wildlife sanctuary and protected area. The unmatched biodiversity of this place is second to none. At the top of the food chain, the Indochinese tiger thrives here in good numbers along with the Asian leopard which is quite common in the interior. Leopard are found in both color phases (yellow and black).

I made up a series of three camera traps based on the Sony S600, Pelican 1010 cases and Snapshotsniper SSI and SSII boards. The following are the builds and employing them in the forest of Huai Kha Khaeng, a World Heritage Site. Afrer two months, LBK trail camera #3 caught two big cats within several nights of each other. This set of three cameras are presently working in this forest and when I go back in March, photos will be downloaded and posted on this site.

LBK # 1 – Sony S600/Pelican 1010 case/Snapshotsniper SSI board  in the hand

LBK  #2 – Sony S600/1010/SSI with ‘elephant proof’ aluminum box and 10mm Python Locking Cable (opened)

LBK #2 – Sony S600/1010/SSI with ‘elephant proof’ aluminum box and 10mm Python Locking Cable (closed)

LBK #3 – Sony S600/1010/SSII camera trap

LBK #3 – Sony S600/1010/SSII #3 opened

LBK #3 – Sony S600/1010/SSII in the field

Indochinese tiger with a radio collar on the same trail as the leopard below.

One of 8-10 tigers that are part of scientific survey of the big cats here.

Leopard male camera trapped a few nights after the tiger above.

This cat was entering a waterhole in the interior out hunting prey.

It goes without saying that Huai Kha Khaeng is truly a wildlife paradise and Thailand’s top protected area.

Goral, Asian Wild Dogs, Pig-tailed Macaque recorded over the course of two months in July-August 2011 in a series of videos taken be a Bushnell Trophy Cam set-up close to the  mountain peak in the sanctuary.

For more than a decade, I have been seriously involved in camera trapping around Thailand’s protected areas. It has been a road of discovery and I have captured many cryptic creatures of nature like tiger and leopard plus many more on both film and digital. In 2008, I finally switched to digital camera traps and have never looked back.

Recently, I wanted to up-grade my camera trap fleet and found ‘Pelican’ cases available here in Thailand consisting of 1010, 1015, 1020, 1030 and 1040 ‘Micro’ series. All of them were clear and I reasoned I would just coat them with camouflage paint when finished. After studying and collecting cases, cameras, boards and externals, I decided to build a series of trail cameras around these clear boxes.

Clear view camera trap components

Then it hit me. The practical aspect of this build is there is no need to drill an extra hole for the flash and just let the camera’s flash shoot straight through the box. A lens snorkel is used in every build and hence there is no flash bleed with the clear boxes.

Sony S600 digital camera/Pelican 1015 case/Snapshotsniper SSII board/Double AA externals

I sourced all the components and decided to use several different Sony cameras in this series including S600, W55 and several W5/7s. The infrared board used is the Snapshotsniper SSI & IIs plus one Yeticam board. Snorkels were machined from aluminum and a rubber gasket was made from Permatex black silicon sealant. SSS ‘HPWA’s (High Performance Wide Angle fresnels) are used with the exception of the W5/1040/Yeticam (standard wide angle fresnel).

Milling out Pelican box

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Another camera trap video from Thailand’s Eastern Forest Complex…………

A plea…….. Those who know me know that its my aim to attempt to do something “useful” with my photos. This little vdo is just a step in that way. All the tigers shown are camera trapped in the wild.