Get The Prize

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

for this shot we both got the prize. I've been wanting this shot for years and came close once with the following frame but never with the fish right out of the water. The nictitating membrane is covering the eye which I think is pretty cool and It seems to be there whenever the bird goes to this pose fish or not. This shot made my day but my shooting buddies were a little green LOL :)
Canon 1DMIV 500mm f4
ISO 800 f7.1 @1/2000

[Marina Scarr]

This is such a super shot of this behavior, Cheryl, and as we both know, not an easy capture to achieve. I can't believe I took my finger off the freakin' trigger but very happy that you kept on shooting and got this amazing shot. Love seeing the water splash, the membrane and even the eye of the fish. I have a feeling your horizon may be off a tad.

[Karl Egressy]

Amazing action shot, Cheryl.

[Shawn Zierman]

You are lucky to have access to this species. You are skilled to create an image like this! Excellent action capture. I dig the nictating membrane and the fish prey. Nice job handling the exposure too.

[Don Railton]

Hi Cheryl.. Nothing is sweeter than getting the shot you want...and the longer you have to wait the sweeter it gets. I'm happy for you.. Its well timed and sharp, well done. I agree with Marina in that it does not look level, maybe you could use the beak reflection in the water to get it a bit closer. DON

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Cheryl, very well timed, and I do like this unusual inflight skimming pose, and that he got his catch. Before reading Marina's comment, I felt this needed a CW rotation.

Kingfishers also close their nictitating membrane when bashing fish against the perch before swallowing it.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Cheryl,

Great moment captured! Glad you were able to get this, and I'm sure you are very happy with it. I agree about the CW rotation.

Isn't it fun to come home with the best shot of the group ;) haha.

Miguel

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

This is such a super shot of this behavior, Cheryl, and as we both know, not an easy capture to achieve. I can't believe I took my finger off the freakin' trigger but very happy that you kept on shooting and got this amazing shot. Love seeing the water splash, the membrane and even the eye of the fish. I have a feeling your horizon may be off a tad.

Got it

[vishaljadhav]

i like the the pose captured, great piece of timing on this one
great to see a prey, the details look good

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

This is such a super shot of this behavior, Cheryl, and as we both know, not an easy capture to achieve. I can't believe I took my finger off the freakin' trigger but very happy that you kept on shooting and got this amazing shot. Love seeing the water splash, the membrane and even the eye of the fish. I have a feeling your horizon may be off a tad.

THanks for pointing out the crop as well. This is closer to my OP

[Morkel Erasmus]

Great timing and pose here Cheryl! A dream shot for me too...

[nrohrbacker]

This is a great catch for both of you. For all the skimming they do, their success rate seems fairly low. Seems they do a million passes before they get something, so to capture the moment is very special. Congrats!

[Grace Scalzo]

Excellent excellent excellent. Such a hard image to capture. Well done.

[gail bisson]

You did good girl!!
Gail

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Thanks everyone.