Home-made camera captures moments of nature Spectacular images use equipment that is almost half a century old - Home-made camera captures moments of nature - These spectacular images capture the beautiful movements of some of nature's most elusive animals - using equipment almost half a century old.
The quality displays the accuracy of an Archer Fish firing a jet of water to knock an insect off a leaf.
And then takes to the skies to track a swallow gracefully swooping towards a pond to take a drink.
Keen wildlife photographer Stephen Dalton spent years developing and trialing different kit before he eventually found his set-up – a completely homemade operation he still successfully uses today.
An owl swooping towards a nest with a rat in its beak for dinner. See how Stephen captured this image by clicking on next image
Spectacular images use equipment that is almost half a century old
He said: "Ninety per cent of my work was originally exposed on film as at that time there were no digital cameras or PC's to make life easy.
"At that time I knew no way of handling insects in such a way that directed them to a specific point.
"There were no flash units that were fast or powerful enough to capture the animals in full flight.
"All camera shutters were also far too slow to capture the moment at the right time and they still are even on shoots with brand new cameras.
"I needed a sensing system that was capable of detecting an object as fine as a human hair moving at up to about four meters per second."
So Mr Dalton began knocking together the sort of equipment that wouldn't be seen anywhere else for years.
He created the ultimate high-speed set-up including an invisible light beam – which when broken by the subject of the photo snaps the creature mid-movement.
The set-up also includes a voltage control, a transformer for the light source, photo cell light sensor, a photo amplifier and a number of flashes – all completely homemade.
He said: "I'd been photographing animals since the 1960s but my work did not develop a reason so to speak until the next decade.
"It was then I realised that much of the more spectacular activities of animals, particularly of the smaller ones such as insects, were too fast to see and fully wonder at.
"It seemed a miracle that flies can evade a swatting hand and land upside-down on the ceiling or that hoverflies can hover effortlessly and change direction in the twinkling of an eye.
"The thrill of seeing for the first time how these little creatures moved their wings and manoeuvre through the air with such rapidity and instinctive skill was overwhelming."
Mr Dalton spends weeks painstakingly organising his outdoor set-up into place piece by piece so not to disturb the animals he snaps.
He said: "Capturing the swallow drinking was an incredible process.
"I use so much kit that if I was to put it together all in one go then the swallow would stay away from the area as it is too much of a change in environment.
"Doing it this way takes a number of weeks but it does look great in the end."
The only part of his kit that isn't homemade is the cameras he uses, and that has been the biggest change throughout his career
Mr Dalton admits the equipment he assembled is big and bulky but unbeatable in design. It covers an entire kitchen table – the flash power supply alone weighs 10kg and relies on energy stored at 3000 volts.
But he insists it is a small price to pay to capture the stunning images.
He said: "Now we have entered this new era of extraordinarily refined digitalimagery and electronic automation, the marvels of nature can be increasingly revealed by more people to the human eye.
"I just pray that it will convince more of us that the natural world must be protected no matter the cost." ( telegraph.co.uk )
The quality displays the accuracy of an Archer Fish firing a jet of water to knock an insect off a leaf.
And then takes to the skies to track a swallow gracefully swooping towards a pond to take a drink.
Keen wildlife photographer Stephen Dalton spent years developing and trialing different kit before he eventually found his set-up – a completely homemade operation he still successfully uses today.
An owl swooping towards a nest with a rat in its beak for dinner. See how Stephen captured this image by clicking on next image
Spectacular images use equipment that is almost half a century old
He said: "Ninety per cent of my work was originally exposed on film as at that time there were no digital cameras or PC's to make life easy.
"At that time I knew no way of handling insects in such a way that directed them to a specific point.
"There were no flash units that were fast or powerful enough to capture the animals in full flight.
"All camera shutters were also far too slow to capture the moment at the right time and they still are even on shoots with brand new cameras.
"I needed a sensing system that was capable of detecting an object as fine as a human hair moving at up to about four meters per second."
So Mr Dalton began knocking together the sort of equipment that wouldn't be seen anywhere else for years.
He created the ultimate high-speed set-up including an invisible light beam – which when broken by the subject of the photo snaps the creature mid-movement.
The set-up also includes a voltage control, a transformer for the light source, photo cell light sensor, a photo amplifier and a number of flashes – all completely homemade.
He said: "I'd been photographing animals since the 1960s but my work did not develop a reason so to speak until the next decade.
"It was then I realised that much of the more spectacular activities of animals, particularly of the smaller ones such as insects, were too fast to see and fully wonder at.
"It seemed a miracle that flies can evade a swatting hand and land upside-down on the ceiling or that hoverflies can hover effortlessly and change direction in the twinkling of an eye.
"The thrill of seeing for the first time how these little creatures moved their wings and manoeuvre through the air with such rapidity and instinctive skill was overwhelming."
Mr Dalton spends weeks painstakingly organising his outdoor set-up into place piece by piece so not to disturb the animals he snaps.
He said: "Capturing the swallow drinking was an incredible process.
"I use so much kit that if I was to put it together all in one go then the swallow would stay away from the area as it is too much of a change in environment.
"Doing it this way takes a number of weeks but it does look great in the end."
The only part of his kit that isn't homemade is the cameras he uses, and that has been the biggest change throughout his career
Mr Dalton admits the equipment he assembled is big and bulky but unbeatable in design. It covers an entire kitchen table – the flash power supply alone weighs 10kg and relies on energy stored at 3000 volts.
But he insists it is a small price to pay to capture the stunning images.
He said: "Now we have entered this new era of extraordinarily refined digitalimagery and electronic automation, the marvels of nature can be increasingly revealed by more people to the human eye.
"I just pray that it will convince more of us that the natural world must be protected no matter the cost." ( telegraph.co.uk )
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