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<\/p>\nI have certain lofty\u00a0goals with Belted Kingfisher photos and I’m finally making some progress (but I’m certainly not there yet).<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning I drove all the way to Bear River MBR and was essentially bird-skunked. That trip involved about three hours of driving to and from the refuge and several more hours of looking for birds so it was a frustrating morning to say the least. Lunch and a short nap after I returned home picked up my spirits and enthusiasm so I did a few chores and then tried to salvage the day in the late afternoon by looking for kingfishers closer to home. I’ve been trying for many weeks to find them and then get close (neither is easy)\u00a0but they’ve always lived up to their elusive reputation.<\/p>\n
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1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But this time I\u00a0actually found\u00a0a single occasionally cooperative male. After one of his fishing forays\u00a0much further\u00a0away\u00a0he landed on this close perch at eye level to me and I got some shots of him that I quite like. It felt very good to finally have some kingfisher success again.<\/p>\n But there’s several types of kingfisher shots that I’ve lusted after for years and they’ve always eluded me. They include:<\/p>\n Any bird photographer who’s ever attempted these types of shots knows that they’re damn-near impossible to get with this species – the action is just too fast. Because it’s much easier many photographers get these types of\u00a0photos\u00a0using setups (placing fish in a plastic kiddie-pool, putting fish in a jar that floats near the surface etc. etc. – the list of slimy techniques\u00a0is endless and they’re almost never disclosed) but I find those methods sleazy and dishonest for a nature photographer so I just keep trying. And failing.<\/p>\n I call the process of making the attempt “playing with kingfishers”.<\/p>\n But yesterday I came closer with all three categories of my “dream kingfisher shots” than I’ve ever come before and I include an example of each below. With any other species I’d have deleted all three of these images because of issues with composition and significant softness but for me these photos\u00a0signify progress with my goals and I find that encouraging so I’m keeping them.<\/p>\n All three\u00a0shots are of the same male as in my first image above.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Here he had made an attempt at a fish, missed it, and then\u00a0left the water to return to his perch. Long after he emerged from the water I almost acquired sharp focus on him. Maybe next time I’ll really lock on and get the bird tack sharp and larger in the frame (I really like the 3-dimensional qualities of this image).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In this shot he actually has a fish soon after coming out of the water. I like the flight\u00a0posture and the light but the bird is just too soft.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n And this could have been fairly close to my ultimate\u00a0dream shot of a kingfisher. He has a fish and\u00a0we see the dramatic splash from both his entrance into and exit from the water (they only stay in the water for about one\u00a0second) but the kingfisher is much too\u00a0soft and barely in frame.<\/p>\n I’m getting there but I still have some work to do. I’m convinced that the quest for the goal is almost as exciting and fulfilling as actual success as long as I’m making progress.<\/p>\n And besides, it’s evidence that this old fart bird\u00a0photographer\u00a0ain’t dead yet…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: I saw this male dive on a fish five times and he came up with a fish three (and possibly four) of those\u00a0times. The fish was always an invasive weather loach.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have certain lofty goals with Belted Kingfisher photos and I’m finally making some progress.<\/p>\n\n
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