Belted Kingfisher in Flight

[Doug Brown]

I happened upon a couple Kingfishers the other morning while photographing with fellow BPNer Gary Rouleau. This has proven to be an extremely challenging subject for me over time! But these two more than made up for the earlier frustrations. Although they kept their distance, they put on quite a show for us. The highlight was when a Cooper's Hawk started chasing one of the Kingfishers over the pond (inside of Gary's MFD I might add). I never got a frame with both birds in it, but it was incredible to watch! If you think Kingfishers are tough to photograph in flight, you should try it when they're being chased by a Coop! :)



Canon 1D Mark IV, 600mm + 1.4x, f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 640, manual exposure, hand held

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, no need to tell me how fast these guys are - but with that extra danger of a hawk chasing them, they probably tend to fly a little faster ( if thats possible) Good wing position, and I like the angle of flight. I like the detail and colours on the near wing too.

[Lorant Voros]

Not easy to get them for sure. Nice full down pose and sharp with catch light in eye. Did you darken the BG?

[Doug Brown]

Did you darken the BG?

No I did not; I was shooting manual exposure, and you have to protect those bright whites on the bird. The BG was trees in the shade.

[Randy Stout]

Doug:

Fun story, I also have struggled to get good pictures of these guys.
Sharp with good detail. I wish there was just a little more separation from the BG, which I suspect Lorant was thinking about as well.

I appreciate he exposure challenges with the whites, and I always shoot them with manual as well.

Cheers

Randy

[Haim Ziv]

Beautiful and very impressive shot. I know for sure how tough it is to catch them in flight.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Haim. We saw a few Kingfishers together in Israel that day, but this was my best encounter yet.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Hi Doug
I Like the wing position, Fine details & exposure. as mentioned by Randy:

I wish there was just a little more separation from the BG