Couple of Birds - Heron and Kingfisher

SDK^

SDK^

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Yesterday I had some fun trying to capture birds out in the wilderness. Much to my annoyance I found that my lens just isn't capable photographing this type of wildlife.
A guy next to me had a Canon 600mm L IS with a 1.4x extender and was making me very jealous – total focal length on his 20D was 1300mm. Anyway I was stuck with what I had so tried to make the most of it. Wildlife photography in gardens is so much easier :(

Photos taken on a Canon 20D and a 100-400L IS @ 400mm in low light conditions

back-duck-1.jpg



Grey Heron

heron1.jpg



King Fishers - These are cropped so the quality is poor

king-finsher1.jpg


king-finsher2.jpg
 
Nice shots there. The 100-400L is great at moderate distances but you're definitely under-gunned at any distance.
 
Kingfisher Porn :nunu:

Love the way you've caught the reflection of the Heron :thumb:

But......

Whats the world coming to when a 100-400L isn't good enough :shock:
 
Thanks for comments :)

mrgubby said:
But......
Whats the world coming to when a 100-400L isn't good enough :shock:
Click to expand...
It's not long enough, it's slow, it doesn't take extenders with autofocus and the qaulity just isn't up to the job. I need a prime !!
 
I dont believe you caught a shot of 2 kingfishers mating!!!
I have been trying SO long to get a good shot of a kingfisher .....and you got 2 for the price of one! Fantastic work.
 
SDK^ said:
Thanks for comments :)


It's not long enough, it's slow, it doesn't take extenders with autofocus and the qaulity just isn't up to the job. I need a prime !!
Click to expand...


:whistle2:

I like the Heron shot mate along with the 1st shot.

The Kingfisher is hard to get anywhere so some credit has to to be taken.

Keep saving chum..:)
 
I love the Kingfisher shots too :) i would love to get anything like those ! :)


SDK^ said:
It's not long enough, it's slow, it doesn't take extenders with autofocus and the qaulity just isn't up to the job. I need a prime !!
Click to expand...

As i found out with my rubbish Osprey shot ! although you arent correct re the extender comment! its the body that stops thet AF working not the lens ;) on a 1 series body it will still AF happily :)
 
Be proud of your kingfisher shots....they're very hard to get unless you're very lucky. A colleague at work was fishing once and one landed on the end of his rod !!! Lucky *****
I can't bring myself to post my kingfisher photos - each bird occupies about 10 pixels:embarasse

Rich
 
RickMezza said:
Be proud of your kingfisher shots....they're very hard to get unless you're very lucky. A colleague at work was fishing once and one landed on the end of his rod !!! Lucky *****
Click to expand...
I had one land five feet in front of me when I was in a hide. Only problem was the lens I had on has a minimum focus distance of 12 feet :( Tried to move but spooked him. One day I will ............

Tried to work out what the first duck is but can't. Where is Ven when you need him.
The pair of Kingfishers was a great capture - I yearn for a longer lens too.
 
Great captures - made me envious! Garden pictures are fine - but last two days management made me make it live up to its name! Creaking this evening!

The Kingfisher shots are wonderful as usually all you see is the flash of colour. It is the taking of any picture to remember the moment that matters - not pleasing the purists or getting exhibition standard. The mating is something I doubt if you or any of us will ever see again! (I know someone will quote that). Where was the wilderness?
 
Fangman said:
The mating is something I doubt if you or any of us will ever see again! (I know someone will quote that). Where was the wilderness?
Click to expand...

If you keep sitting at the computer on a Saturday night, Fangman,....mating is something YOU will never see again!!! :D
 
IanC_UK said:
As i found out with my rubbish Osprey shot ! although you arent correct re the extender comment! its the body that stops thet AF working not the lens ;) on a 1 series body it will still AF happily :)
Click to expand...

That's right Ian. :)

Just to put things in perspective though, the 100-400L is a superb lens within it's range, and you'd find a 600 or 800mm too long sometimes so there's no easy answer, except to keep spending the dosh and getting a bigger bag! :D
 
CT said:
It's a Hooded Merganser. (Male) :)
Click to expand...
Thanks, presumably an escapee, although it is the right time of year to be very lost. One appeared in Unst Shetland today according to Birdguides
 
No wonder I couldnt find it in my bird books! I could only find a red-breasted merganser which had the same beak so I knew it was of the same family.
Well identified!!
 
Both Kingfisher shots would have benefited from using a smaller F stop to give a narrower depth of field and isolate the birds from the busy surroundings.
 
Thanks forf yoru comments folks, this photo sharing section is quite busy hey :)

Steve said:
Both Kingfisher shots would have benefited from using a smaller F stop to give a narrower depth of field and isolate the birds from the busy surroundings.
Click to expand...
:)

Hence why I need a 600 F4
I was at 400mm F5.6 - the focal length wasn't long enough and the aperture didn't go wider :(

Also the above Kingfisher images are approx 70% crops.
 
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