Help me get footage of mosquitos
November 6, 2019 3:54 PM   Subscribe

I need to get video of mosquitos in flight. I'm particularly interested in ones around 250 cm (8 ft) from the camera so I was going to set the focus there, but even if they're blurred I need to record all of them within the field of vision. I know between little and nothing about cameras or video in general.

I'm building a machine learning rig to predict mosquito flight paths. I need video to train it with.

I've got a Logitech Brio for recording. I realize that's not videographer equipment but I'd like to do what I can as a proof of concept if nothing else.

Mosquitos I have. I average one every fifteen minutes against a white wall (makes for great contrast) indoors but I'd like to move operations out to the garden where there are constantly dozens -- at least around dusk and dawn. What would be the best way to set this up?
posted by Tell Me No Lies to Science & Nature (1 answer total)
 
Best answer: I would go with a black backdrop and bright lights that are aimed at the 8ft from camera area. Since the camera is catching light, and mosquitoes are tiny, you'll get lots more detail if the camera is just trying to capture the light bouncing off the bugs instead of looking for the light they are blocking bouncing off a white wall.

Get the blackest fabric you can find - film crews often use black velvet curtains. Hang that as flat as you can as far away from the camera as possible while still filling the frame (if everything in frame is dark you won't have any other bright spots mucking up the images you're trying to get of the mosquitoes.

Aim your lights at a plane 8 feet from the camera - either from below or from the side. Use cardboard or something to block the light from hitting the backdrop, or from shining towards the camera. Here's a good explanation of how to do this. Now you should only be lighting up the bugs that will be within your focal area, and get some great images.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:46 PM on November 6, 2019


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