took me about 4 years to finally get one. not as dedicated as that other guy though a belted king fisher
Congrats - at least you got one finally. Nice portrait of him too - nice and tight and good pose showing that long bill and big head. I have had a fair number of them down here and plenty of chances to shoot them - though also nowhere near as dedicated as the guy with the water dive shot. That's been the one bugaboo for me - I have never been able to catch one in the dive about to hit the water. Sitting, flying overhead, yes - but hitting the water, no. Some kingfisher shots I've had over the years: Caught this one at the beginning of a dive, but he disappeared behind a pond apple tree as he hit the water, so once again, I didn't get the water impact: This one in 2010 was my first ever kingfisher shot:
they are tough little buggers to shoot for sure. I got one with a fish a few years ago at Bombay Hook NWR in Del but had sticks in front of it. she would sit and pose for people all the time. they nic named her Carole Kingfisher. never got her in the open though I am still trying to get an osprey grabbing a fish from the water. have plenty of them bringing fish back to the nest but no dive shots. it would be pure luck as forsythe has an 8 mile loop with water everywhere so to be in the exact spot would be a giant miracle but I aint giving up hope
You do start to get the feeling when you read articles like the one you linked that there are three ways to get those shots. 1. extreme patience, tens of thousands of frames, years of effort, like the guy in the article. 2. Completely set up shot, with captive bird or highly controlled, baited area (I've seen some stories about people who used baiting, enclosures, even captive or pet birds without disclosing all this). Or 3. Extreme luck, akin to winning the lottery!
It is a shame to think that people would actually "fudge" shots like that and try to play them off as authentic, yet it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
It's sad but true - the world of bird photography can get pretty dark if you look into the shadows. Staging and baiting are quite common - baiting to get birds to come to an exact spot, and fly off with prey in their talons, is probably the least offensive of these bad techniques...staging usually involves placing branches and perches in just the right light and position and background so the bird will land there to your pre-focused spot...also a little less offensive. Folks using phones to play bird calls to attract them to come out in the open - again, I don't like it, but it's lower on the list of offenses. But then it gets into sedating birds so they don't move as much, wiring, which is tying them down to a branch to pose them, and enclosures where they can't fly freely out of a certain space, so the photographer can keep shooting them in one spot. Personally, I just enjoy the getting out in nature and looking for birds in natural environments - I don't even like to use a flash as I prefer whatever light nature gives me. I'm OK with someone using flash if that's their preference, though I'd hope they don't use it too close so as to disturb a bird...the rest of those things though I really just don't like and would rather just stay away from photographers using any of those practices.
working at getting the shot makes it interesting and a challange if it was too easy the fun would go away and anyone could do it
@Howie Williams congrats! At least you have one! They are a rare sight up here. @zackiedawg awesome set of Kingfisher photos! I'm envious.
