Number 1 is brilliant, and number 2 goes that bit further still, they are all great timing. Are these completely wild, or are they brought to an area to feed with captive fish in a tank below the water, as in a set up to capture Kingfishers feeding at workshops etc?
Thanks Gareth, I thought it was a workshop type arrangement, That doesn't take a single thing away from the pictures, they are excellent, well done and thanks for sharingThanks for the comments guys. These were taken at a rented hide so although they are wild birds, the feeding area is set so that you get the best chance of getting the image you want. I have to say it was still difficult and I think I have something like 600 shots just to get a handful of sharp shots with the complete bird in the frame.
Ditto to everything which has been said, I can add nothing more but ask a couple of questions ...
1. How far was the perch from the water surface where the bird went in to get the fish? I ask this because I recently went to a Kingfisher hide and was very frustrated when I could not catch the bird in flight because the distance between the perch and water surface was only about a metre or so - I reckon it needs to be at least twice as much as that for human reaction time ... or is that just slow old me?
2. Why do these shots require a remote release? Would they have been possible from the hide itself using a longer lens or would that not have got you the angle required? I think I may have answered my own question here as I am thinking that the lens needs to be parallel with the top surface of the water to get the composition you wanted but would it be possible to have the camera in the hide pointing down and then prefocus from there?
Alan
These are great Gareth. On my bucket list of wildlife images.
Spent a bit of time with some Kingfishers a couple of years ago and decided I had worked out that every time the kingy bobbed its head it would dive about a second later. So, as soon as it bobbed its head I just held down the shutter release. And 3 seconds later I had 30 images of empty air and the kingy was still sitting on the branch.
You've obviously worked it out better than I did.