Asking out of curiosity: Camo clothing

I wonder if any/how many of you fellow nature photographers use camouflage clothing in the same or similar style as the photographer (it's not me ) in the picture below.


Camo clothes in use

Feedback would be appreciated.

Cheers.

No, I don't have the patience to sit still for hours at a time. I shoot raptors and with their superb vision, I don't think I can fool them if they can spot a squirrel from a quarter of a mile away.

I saw this question posted somewhere else and someone remarked that your movement will give you away despite the camo.

I do use camo on my lens so wildlife doesn't see me with a huge object pointed at them.

Nope, don't wear camo (especially not sniper ghillie suits!)

When doing wildlife photography in Zambia (or anywhere else in Africa), I always wear natural bush colours (greens, khakis, browns etc.) and avoid black, dark blue, dark grey and light reflective colours such as whites, yellows, pinks, reds, sky blue etc., all for very practical reasons.

When on foot in dangerous game country you should always wear clothes that will help you to not stand out, so light reflective colours such as whites, yellows, pinks, reds, sky blue etc should be avoided. While most big mammals (bar elephants) have good to very good eyesight and they tend to spot movement before colour, bright light reflective colours just stand out against the muted bush tones and make spotting that movement much easier. Also should you be unlucky enough to be charged by anything with a penchant for charging ... Elephant, Hippo, Buffalo, Lion... bright coloured clothing just gives that very dangerous animal a distinct target to lock onto... you don't want to be the one guy with the obvious 'target' shirt on!

While black, dark blue, dark grey don't attract the attention of mammals as much as bright colours do, they do attract tsetse flies, whose bite is a very painful irritant! Also these colours are a big attractor of African Bee swarms in a bad attacking mood (rare as that is)... I know this from very painful first hand experience!

So... back to the first point. If you want to blend in green, brown, khaki bush tones... Why NOT camouflage?
Well the other practical reason is that in some parts of Africa, civilians in overtly military clothing can attract unwarranted attention from local military and law enforcement ... and when you are carrying a camera and wearing camo, be prepared to be potentially detained on suspected espionage charges...

Thanks for your insights.

Thanks for callin' in.

I agree that nowadays in these turbulent times we need to find a proper degree of camoing while in the field regardless of location. I usually opt for standard leisure clothing in brownish or greenish tones.

no, as someone else said, the animal / bird will notice sudden movement pretty fast with or without camo. I do wear earth tone colors. No bright pinks with iridescent green trim.

There are certainly some YouTubers who do: Morten Hilmer as an example.

I don't have camo clothing, I just wear natural tones similar to the surroundings I am in ie low contrast.

I do have a leafy camo tarp that I can throw over myself at times where I am staking out a particular site eg a nesting site. That way I can look 'normal' when walking around and hide if I want to. It can be a bit bulky to lug around though.

It has worked in a couple of situations and hasn't in a couple of others where I am sure the birds I was photographing knew exactly what I was and were agitated by my presence.

The times when it did work, the clicking of the DSLR (Nikon D500) disturbed the wildlife (mostly birds) more than anything else. The birds kept looking around trying to work out what the clicking noise was when I was shooting.

regards

Anthony

Not directly related to your question, but here is something that may give you an idea of how sensitive to small movements a raptor like a peregrine falcon can be compared to a human:

"The peregrine falcon, one of the world's most common predatory birds, has the fastest vision in the animal kingdom and can register nearly 130 frames per second, according to a study. In comparison, the researchers, including those from Lund University in Sweden, said humans see up to a maximum of 50 to 60 blinks per second. They added that at a movie theatre, a speed of 25 images per second is sufficient for humans to perceive it as film, and not as a series of still images."

I interpret this to mean that peregrines are much more sensitive to small movements than humans. This fast-flying falcon needs great vision because it hunts at such great speeds. They also mention that a Harris Hawk, which hunts slower moving prey, can only detect about 77 frames per second. I think Harris hawks also tend to hunt lower to the ground and in groups where multiple sets of eyes track the prey.

Wearing some clothes in subdued earthy/leafy tones is probably the best compromise.

And yes, DSLR's clicking can be sometimes annoying to critters.

Thanks for this very interesting information. Super reading.

I don’t use camo at all. I’m sure it can help in certain situations.

Hello Anthony,

I have been thinking about camo gear for a while. Not got anything yet, but I think your method of a 'tarp' is the way I'll go.

Bob

Right, bergfalke mentioned a nice option. You can simply have something like a lightweight tarp or let's say netting to cover yourself when/if needed.


Lightweight Camo netting option

Cheers.

There is plenty of variations to choose from depending on what colour you want:



These are pretty lightweight and allow the breeze through when you are under it.

If you string it up and try to use it as a screen, it won't work so well as you can see through it. Works quite well wrapped around your shoulders and over your head (beach blanket style) and then draped around each side of the camera. I use a couple of clothes pegs to hold the front shut. I tend to set up in the shade of a tree. I have used it with a tripod and a small folding stool. I have also sat on the ground and used the mono (don't sit on a ants nest). I can sit for a couple of hours like that without too much problem - providing something is there to take pics of.

Downside is that they can be a pain to pack away neatly.

Anthony

Fine stuff and good tips Anthony. I like this tarp/netting option as it would present no burden to carry which is of a paramount importance in the field. You can have it with you all day not actually knowing about it.

I haven't seen anyone using that extensive a camo set up.

I almost always wear camo clothing when in the field. I don't frequent parks or refuges where animals and birds are habituated to humans, where I go all large mammals are hunted as are waterfowl and wild turkeys. Camo clothing breaks up that threatening human shape so, although the critters know something's there they can't readily identify this thing as a human. It also hides me from the rare human that may wander past and then come over to see what's going on.

Woody S said:

I almost always wear camo clothing when in the field. I don't frequent parks or refuges where animals and birds are habituated to humans, where I go all large mammals are hunted as are waterfowl and wild turkeys. Camo clothing breaks up that threatening human shape so, although the critters know something's there they can't readily identify this thing as a human. It also hides me from the rare human that may wander past and then come over to see what's going on.

Click to expand...

That brings up another issue. Are you comfortable walking around in the brush in camo in areas that hunters frequent?

I read somewhere that big game hunters are supposed to wear camo that has that blazing bright orange color. It might sound counter-intuitive, but most of the animals out there are color blind or don't see orange very well, but the orange stands out to the other human hunters.

I have a camo shirt that I will wear sometimes. I used to have camo on my camera, too. I figured that the combo would help me be less conspicuous when photographing from my car,;-)

Al

Krusty79 said:

Woody S said:

I almost always wear camo clothing when in the field. I don't frequent parks or refuges where animals and birds are habituated to humans, where I go all large mammals are hunted as are waterfowl and wild turkeys. Camo clothing breaks up that threatening human shape so, although the critters know something's there they can't readily identify this thing as a human. It also hides me from the rare human that may wander past and then come over to see what's going on.

Click to expand...

That brings up another issue. Are you comfortable walking around in the brush in camo in areas that hunters frequent?

I read somewhere that big game hunters are supposed to wear camo that has that blazing bright orange color. It might sound counter-intuitive, but most of the animals out there are color blind or don't see orange very well, but the orange stands out to the other human hunters.

Click to expand...

The point of camouflage clothing isn't actually the colour. It is the disruptive patterning. Animal (and human) eyes distinguish shape before they distinguish colour. So disruptive patterns (ie camoflage) create an illusion of visually breaking the human shape.