how to partially light up a yard

[sdipcam]

I have a side yard that is adjacent to woods with a chain link fence on the border. Next to the chain link fence in the middle section is an angle iron in the ground, with power and an electrical box that was used for tree lighting. That light was removed a while ago and its dark in that area now. I want to put up a camera facing that area but figure i need some lighting. I wanted some suggestions of what kind of light i can put there that would light up my yard but not the woods as I don't want to drive the wildlife away. The only thing i can think of is attach some sort of pole to the angle iron and put a light at the top of it with the back closed so that no light goes towards the woods. Anyone done something like this and have some pictures to share? Or any lights built specifically for this situation?

The other options is to just record in the dark and rely on the light that comes from motion sensing flood lights I have in the area. Honestly that might be enough as I am in a relatively safe neighborhood. But I wanted to know what my options are regarding having some light there since I already have the power wires in that area.

 

[wittaj]

What about infrared?

 

[TonyR]

The other options is to just record in the dark and rely on the light that comes from motion sensing flood lights I have in the area.

If you mean having the lights come on when motion is sensed, it takes too long for the camera to adjust and you've likely missed a valuable shot. It's best to either use IR at night or constant visible light and insure neither is directly affecting the cam's exposure (glare).

 

[SIR VEYOR]

Constant light is fine. Wildlife gets used to things pretty fast. Especially if there’s no predatory pressure in area.

Dropping feed for a bit might help, but beware “baiting” in some areas.

 

[sdipcam]

What about infrared?

Ive never tried that.. I need to look up how to do that and how good of a picture it produces.. maybe that will be enough.

 

[Swampledge]

Here’s an example. Two coyotes passing by my chicken coop while its occupants snooze on their roosts.No lighting here at all except for the camera’s IR.

 

[The Automation Guy]

There are plenty of outdoor rated spotlight fixtures that would work. Spotlight bulbs are generally very directional with little to no light being emitted "behind" the bulb (any light spill that occurs behind the bulb is generally being reflected). Therefore you can just point the bulb away from the woods and there shouldn't be much light spilling into the woods.

 

[sdipcam]

There are plenty of outdoor rated spotlight fixtures that would work. Spotlight bulbs are generally very directional with little to no light being emitted "behind" the bulb (any light spill that occurs behind the bulb is generally being reflected). Therefore you can just point the bulb away from the woods and there shouldn't be much light spilling into the woods.

you mean floodlight right? AFAIK a spotlight is narrow and wouldnt cover a yard. So a floodlight like this one would have wider coverage .

 

[sdipcam]

Here’s an example. Two coyotes passing by my chicken coop while its occupants snooze on their roosts.No lighting here at all except for the camera’s IR.View attachment 180455

thanks for the example! seems a bit too dark for what I want. Although it might be enough when used in connection with a floodlight.

 

[Swampledge]

thanks for the example! seems a bit too dark for what I want. Although it might be enough when used in connection with a floodlight.

If I was looking for a brighter image I could adjust it to be brighter, but then an animal running past would be more of a ghostly blur. It all depends on what you want to see. Others here are using using cameras that produce a color image with fairly low level visible light. With the IR, human eyes see only darkness.

 

[The Automation Guy]

thanks for the example! seems a bit too dark for what I want. Although it might be enough when used in connection with a floodlight.

Yeah, a floodlight might be a better choice. It just depends on the area you are trying to light up.

 

[Sybertiger]

Here's an IR example from early this morning. Trust me....it's near pitch black out there. There's the IR coming from an old 2MP Dahua HDW5231R-ZE cam plus a 10W IR flood illuminator (see the hotspot in front of the far raccoon). No other source of light. I would not want to like up this area all night with visible light. It's about 70 feet from the cam to the far side where you can see the yard goes to blackness.

 

[sdipcam]

Here's an IR example from early this morning. Trust me....it's near pitch black out there. There's the IR coming from an old 2MP Dahua HDW5231R-ZE cam plus a 10W IR flood illuminator (see the hotspot in front of the far raccon). No other source of light. I would not want to like up this area all night with visible light. It's about 70 feet from the cam to the far side where you can see the yard goes to blackness.

View attachment 180465

great example! so IR from my motion floodlights will help or interfere with the camera? I will have similar with two motion floodlights at either end of the yard and the camera in the middle. So the edges might be "illuminated" by motion floodlights and I may or may not need the flood illuminator for the middle.

 

[Sybertiger]

I have one of these 64W LED floodlights in the backyard and it really lights up the backyard at full brightness. I can't vouge just yet for the sensitivity of the motion sensor as it doesn't seem to be as sensitive as I'd like it to be. I'll have to climb up to see if there is an additional hardwire setting in addition to the app sensitivity setting. What I like about this one is that you can adjust the brightness for reasons of wanting it on all the time and saving power and/or lowering the lighting just enough for your IP cams to operate in color without making it look like the prison yard at night. I wrote a review on Amazon but here are the power measurements for those not want to blow their electric bill budget. You can set it from 1% to 100% in 1% increments.

1% = 10W = 0.08A
10% = 15W = 0.12A
18% = 20W = 0.16A
35% = 30W = 0.24A
52% = 40W = 0.32A
70% = 50W = 0.40A
91% = 60W = 0.48A
100% = 65W = 0.52A

As was mentioned above, by the time your motion sensor trips and the cams to switch from IR mode to color mode you probably will have missed your money shot. Unless, the 4 legged or 2 legged animal don't care about the flood light. Here's a before and after shot of the critters from this morning. The floodlight is set for 100% illumination.

BEFORE FLOODLIGHT - JUST IR LIGHT



AFTER FLOODLIGHT - VISIBLE LIGHT 64W LED



Unfortunately, this cam did not toggle to color mode even though it's set up for automatic. I suppose "Middle" sensitivity isn't enough for it to switch which is kind of surprising given the brightness of the flood light. I'm changing it to "High" sensitivity to see if that makes a difference.