Remote Triggering - Cheating or not cheating?

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Have a question for you all. Shooting wildlife can be frustrating because introducing a human into a situation can change wildlife behavior and sometimes even drive it away. In these situations putting a camera in place and then triggering it remotely can significantly increase your chance of getting the shot. The camera would be fixed and composed on a location (bird nest, animal den), but no one would be looking through the viewfinder, even remotely.

Remote triggering can occur multiple ways, either via some sort of trip sensor causing the animal to set the camera off, or via a manual trigger that allows the photographer to fire the camera from a remote location.

For "wildlife photography" would you consider either of those methods to be "cheating" because the camera is not in hand, or are remotes just another tool in the chest of a good photographer?
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I don't know about cheating, and sorta' don't care. If there's a shot you need to or want to get, you do what you need to do. It just wouldn't be much fun for me, so I've never tried a remote set up.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I don't know about cheating, and sorta' don't care. If there's a shot you need to or want to get, you do what you need to do. It just wouldn't be much fun for me, so I've never tried a remote set up.

What if the remote setup freed you up to shoot as you normally would while also capturing something that you can still watch from a distance but capture in more detail from the remote camera that you would never have been able to capture otherwise (except perhaps by building a blind)?

I'll get more specific as more folks chime in, but I'm curious as to opinions of whether or not "photography" requires active interaction with the camera.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Personally I don't consider it cheating. Using a remote will allow you to obtain photos you probably wouldn't be able to take without it. That said, I don't know if publications such as National Geographic would pay for images obtained in this manner. Pro wildlife photographers (those who dedicate their livelihood to it) tend to set up tents or blinds, but the biggest problem with that is having to sit there for long periods of time.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts when you're ready, Jake.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
What if the remote setup freed you up to shoot as you normally would while also capturing something that you can still watch from a distance but capture in more detail from the remote camera that you would never have been able to capture otherwise (except perhaps by building a blind)?

I'll get more specific as more folks chime in, but I'm curious as to opinions of whether or not "photography" requires active interaction with the camera.


Following while I wait for Fedex to deliver my camRanger today...
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
That said, I don't know if publications such as National Geographic would pay for images obtained in this manner. Pro wildlife photographers (those who dedicate their livelihood to it) tend to set up tents or blinds, but the biggest problem with that is having to sit there for long periods of time.

Actually camera traps have been responsible for animals not seen in decades being captured for the first time, and in those cases Nat Geo certainly had no issue with obtaining them.

Fred mentioned the CamRanger, and I actually have an app with my Sony a6000 that allows me to remotely see what's in the viewfinder, and while that's not what I'm talking about here directly, it would allow a more selective version of what I've got going.
 

john*thomas

Senior Member
Not cheating. I've done it. You still have to set the camera up. Set focusing where you want to focus and then wait. What is the difference in pressing the shutter or pressing a remote shutter?

Now maybe you are thinking things like trail cams. That's not really photography, IMO.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Not cheating at all, over the years I have seen this question ask about most camera facilities continuous shooting, auto exposure, auto ISO, AF let the hair-shirt brigade continue with whatever they want, you do whatever gets the image, with obvious exceptions like not causing stress to the subject.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I'm of the thought that anything that requires planning by the photographer to execute is fair game (though I might draw the line at a randomly placed trail cam).

I used this method to capture bluebirds feeding their young just off the edge of our deck. I couldn't see the box but I could see them coming in, so I stuck a camera 3 feet away shooting through the deck slats and would fire bursts as they flew in.

Right now I'm managing what will likely be a 6-8 week adventure with a nesting pair of Northern Flickers in a dead tree just off the edge of our property. I'll be documenting the journey here.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Okay, having seen your pics and the set up you are using in the other thread, I will change my answer. That looks like fun. :)
 

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
I know this reply is late, but here goes.

When I was flying for the military, and still young, someone accused someone else of "cheating" during an exercise debriefing. The pilot leading the briefing replied, very matter-of-factly, that this was practice for war, and "if you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough and are going to end up dead."

The bottom line is that unless you are participating in a contest or exhibition that prohibit it, using a remote isn't cheating. If it helps you get the images you are looking to get, it's just another technique of the craft. It is no more cheating than post-processing an image.

WM
 
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