Photographing Kingfishers

[Steve S]

Whatever you do to photograph kingfishers, don't do what this guy did.

www.naturephoto.hu/home/index_eng.html

Steve.

[djackso]

That's just sick.

[jones330]

dose anybody know of a place in south wales (rhondda) that i may try and photograph Kingfhishers.

Can email me if u want photos@wejones.plus.com

thanks

Chris Jones

[lord-paul]

I live in Norfolk and own a boat on the Norfolk Broads.
I have to use the same streatch of river each time I go out ( which is normally 3 or 4 days a week )
I have been lucky to be able to photograph these fast moving birds a large number of times.

Some pictures can be found on Photographs Norfolk

[gez]

Hi all, ive not been lucky for almost 18 mths to see the kingfishers at my local stream . But go there as often as poss. in hope they return. My ? is at what shutter speed should i be using to catch the whole fish dive/catch etc. im now using a Nikon d300 with extra battery so get 8fps so should get the whole set if as i say im lucky enough to see them back again. thanks gez

[GTH]

I regard myself as very fortunate....(and jammy), where these fast moving birds are concerned. Christina and i decided one day to pack up the camera equipment and head for a local lake in Cambridgeshire where we knew there were Kingfishers.....and had seen them at a distance before.
We set the gear up where there were a number of old tree branches protruding out of the water no more than 20ft away....and on this day, decided to wait. After an hour, no Kingfishers had appeared...and Christina decided to wander away slightly to another spot about 15 yards away..... her interest also being wild flowers.

On her return she was slightly aggrieved...and she`s only been gone about 15 minutes !!.....but that illusive little devil turned up for me, right in front on one of the perches...and obviously i couldn`t make a sounds to let her know!!...i just clicked away with absolute joy

I`d say that photographing Kingfishers is as much about luck and patience as anything else......once you actually know they are in the area.....but the wait and patience is worth it.

Be lucky.....or dead jammy

Geoff

[Chris Hammond]

I watched a seminar by a bloke who had been togging them quite intensively and for some time. His approach was to use a fragment of branch clamped with a sort of retort stand set-up into exactly the position he required.( to give catchlights, a harmonious bokeh etc.)

I think he was using either a large angler's bankstick or another tripod to hold the clampo in position. It all looks odd until the picture is taken, when only the branch and bird are in frame. He certainly boasted some terrific pictures of the species.

I've never found them a particularly difficult bird to get close to, providing I haven't been carrying a camera... :-)

[jcurtis]

very good article in this months outdoor photography on this subject.

[richnfamous]

Originally Posted by Chris_Johnstone

Got my groundbait too, tried it yesterday but without luck.

Make sure it's ground up finely or the larger fish (which too big for the kingfisher) will chase the tiddlers away. Stale white bread put through a blender, moistened and thrown into the shallows near the perch might do the trick. Fry will often gather in the shallows where the predators can't get at them.

Having said that, I've spent ages by the riverbank with a fishing rod and only ever heard a 'tseep' and a flash of blue and orange as a kingfisher shoots by...

[Chris Hammond]

I know it isn't up to the standard of you folks, but it's a mini triumph for me. It's the first time I've managed to get one in the viewfinder.