Kingfishers doing what they like doing best - fishing.

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Gareth
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Had a lovely afternoon with the Kingfishers. These are 3 that I particularly like:

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I love trying to capture kingfisher action shots ...a good all round set but that water don't half look clean ,its not a northern river :)
 
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?
 
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?

Great fieldcraft to get this close to them and well worth all the hours put in to get images like these.
 
Thanks 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.
 
The speed these little birds move, even with everything being well setup, #2 is extremely well captured :)
 
Brilliant shots, especially like the second one :)
 
No2 then No1 for me but all are really good photo's.

Trev.
 
Thanks 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.
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 sharing (y)
 
Incredible. Fantastic timing. Get them in a frame. Just marvellous.
 
Sorry to not add anything new but I have to agree, number 2 is fantastic.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. These were done with a Canon 5d3 and 70-200/2.8 on a tripod using a remote shutter release. There were a few signs when the Kingfisher was about to dive so you had to be quick a rattle off plenty of shots, then hope for the best.
 
A decent set considering the setup,personaly I like the take on #3 as it`s an angle on the subject we rarely see.
 
Bloody hell - brilliant shots!
 
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
 
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

Alan, The perch was probably just under a metre from the water surface but you have to look for the signs that the bird is about to dive and press your shutter straight away. You're in the lap of the gods then whether you get the shot or not. I have a 500mm f4 but this doesn't give a wide enough DOF and you just can't get the shot so either a 300mm (which I no longer own) or the 70-200/2.8 which was perfect. By using the remote shutter release you can position the camera exactly down at the water level and you're maybe 10ft away so no interfering at all with the bird.
 
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.
 
I love all of them but 2 is really special - great stuff.
 
Brilliant shots well captured....:)
 
Stunning shots especially No.2. :clap:
The closest I have ever got is seeing a flash of blue out of the corner of my eye! Thanks for posting.
 
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.

That's how I started. I think the sound of the shutter put him off at first and I'd start shooting when he twitched as if he was going to dive but then just sat there for another 5 minutes. :)
 
Second is rather special.
 
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