Discovered yesterday we have bats roosting between some tiles and the wall of our house.. pretty cool i think..

anyway, tried to get some photos.

Canon 450D Sigma lens, set to aperture priority F2.8, ISO 1600, exposure +1. Set AI servo focus and continuous shooting.

And well.. it was a horror show, they are quick.. really quick and of course they are bats so they wait till its dusk, tried to get them as they crossed the sky but still just a blur

Heres the set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12512629@N07/sets/72157623990191845/

Any tips on getting some photos of these critters?

Dunno tbh, but you might want to visit: http://www.bats.org.uk/ - all species in the UK are protected so you might find you are legally obliged to report their roost or something similar:? , at the very least it should be reported so it can be recorded on the population databases

Looks like they are out of focus, are you using manual focus or letting the camera do the work, I find manual is the way to go with stuff like this, you will get lots of rubbish ones before you get a good one, as bats are really quick! But because of that your camera will have a hard time trying to keep up and focus.

What sort of shutter speeds are you getting as well, as thats going to be key, your using Aperture priority at the moment, I would have a go with full manual or at least shutter priority.

Also if you can get away with closing the aperture a bit might give you more focal range, but shutter speed will suffer because of that.

Alternatively get yourself up on the roof to get a bit closer and put the flash on

I was aiming to get the shutter speed right up so thats why i went Av and set it to the maximum 2.8.

Using AF as i have no idea how close they would be getting, its probably out of focus and blurred with the motion.

I might see if i can climb out and flash a couple as they leave but i dont really want to disturb them if i can avoid it.

I wouldnt go too far just to get pictures, someone will doubtless try to stir up trouble.