My kingfisher photos

[FUDGEY]

I don't know if this will work, but I'll give it a go. They aren't pin point focussed, but I'm new to photography so go easy

Pictures by AlanMcFadyen - Photobucket

[big bill]

Hello Fudgey pics are not bad at all ,good seperation from the background with the use of Depth of Field and Differential Focusing,but like you side your actual focusing on the main subject the bird needs a lot of practice its hard to say were you main point of focus is.
What was your exposure details ? ie shutter speed and aperture ?

[squishy]

those are brilliant

with a little more practice you'll be getting truly excellent shots

[FUDGEY]

Thanks Squishy, I've only took up photography a few weeks ago so I'm as much as a novice as you will find, can't wait until I've learned a lit more. Bill, F5.6 and iso up at 400 on the close up ones, I think I got 250th of a sec, when iso was at 200 I was only getting an 80th of a sec. I got told to focus on the eye and that's what I tried, but as I said a lot of room for improvement.

[FUDGEY]

You'll also see one of them has a lot of glare on it's chest. It was a really bright day and I don't know how to combat this.

[squishy]

so what camera and lens did you use for those?

[FUDGEY]

A nikon d80 and a 70-300mm lens squishy

[sidewalkdoctor]

The one of it watching the Buzzard is brilliant...keep at it, Fudgey.


PS Post it on the main Gallery......

[Graeme Robson]

Superb!!!

[big bill]

Fudgey try taken your lens setting upto f8 or f11 this will help and will still give you a sufficient fast enough shutter speed and will put the backgroung out as well over the distance ,dont get me wrong the pics are ok seeing you have not been at it that long but practice is the best form of use the more you practice the better you will become .
And in todays age of digital you can afford to experiment with different exposure and shutters settings at no cost except at the pc then you can see which works best for the lens over what distance and conditions.
Best of luck keep posting these pics so we can see your improvement chin up and go get those Kingfishers ,Rome was`nt built in a day

[Red Squirrel]

Nae bad for a beginner Fudgey. Will you tell us where you took them? That's a bird I would really like to take a photograph of.

[pammosley]

Great photos, lovely bird to see let alone get a half decent photo, well done

[FUDGEY]

Bill, I was actually up yesterday and put it up to F7.1 as I thought that would help. Seen it a couple of times at distance, but it never came to my perch. I'm sure it will improve things greatly. I'll let you know how I get on.
Red Squirell, they are on a small stream a few miles from my house in Kirkcudright. To be honest kingfisher sites are far and few between in SW Scotland.

[Words]

I'd be delighted with those shots! I'm sure you'll enjoy proactising getting more. I can't think of a better way to learn!

[PMG]

An excellent start - on a bird I have yet to get!! Well done!

As an opening gambit to see what you can achieve I would try setting the camera on AV, Spot metering (unless its a black and white bird then go evaluative), centre focussing dot chosen (as when you get excited you will follow the action with the bird in the middle of the frame!) Try and keep the focussing to its eye as the sharpest - but if you are at F8 F11 or above if you focussed on the chest of a perching bird its eye should still be focussed. Learn to make yourself take a focus reading from its eye and then move the camera to put it in the frame where you want it (without letting go of the button - that way the distance to its eye and focus remains correct).

I would go this way - if its something very important to you that you are unlikely to see or get into that situation again - go Auto for the first burst of shots, then if its still there go AV and if its still there - and you are not shaking so much and the urgency isn;t as bad - then go to Manual, underexpose a bit, change the focussing spots and take time to reframe the whole shot - BUT always take chances at the start - shoot first - ask question later and don't forget many shots can be rescued back on the computer - even refocusing if it wasn;t too far out - for a species you desperately would like to have photographed or some action or position you want - shoot first and see if you get lucky - then apply some thought, until the thing flies or runs away or you have a full card and are wondering just how you will find the best shot when you get back Good Luck and enjoy - there's no experience quite as good a new camera to play with (well actually a new car would do it for me too and take me out with the camera!!!)

Pauline

[ollyk]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

You'll also see one of them has a lot of glare on it's chest. It was a really bright day and I don't know how to combat this.

You need to dial down EV (Exposure value) and use spot / partial metering if possible.
You might want to practice on easier subjects for a while

[FUDGEY]

Great advice PMG, thanks. I'm actually doing a few of the things you suggest already. Focusing on eye then centring keeping shutter pressed half way for one. I think by setting to F7.1 as I am doing now will get me the shots I'm after.
Ollyk, thanks also for your advice. I can see why you think that I'm trying to run before I can walk, but I would rather jump in at the deep end. I get far more enjoyment waiting on a kingfisher even if my shots are not perfect. Free time is very precious to me so I don't want to be wasting it (for want of a better word) on other more common birds. To be honest practising on common birds would be rather dull to me even though it would probably result in me learining my photography skills quicker, I'd much rather be sitting in my hide waiting for our most beautiful bird. The pros far outweigh the cons. I mean even if at the end of the day I don't get the "perfect" photograph, I get the priveledge of watching one sit within 6ft of me being totally unaware of my prescence going about it's business. To me it doesn't get any better than that and if it is stalling my learning of photography I can make that sacrifice extremly easily. Do you see where I am coming from?

[PMG]

Yes! I understand that perfectly!! And the results at the end will bear out the amount of feeling that went into the getting of

Pauline

[FUDGEY]

Nice to see you see where I am coming from Pauline. Can I add that if I did practice on commoner birds and I got really good doing this and I went up to the kingfisher & got perfect shots 1st time it wouldn't be as exciting for me. I probably wouldn't appreciate the shot as much and I probably would move on to another bird and miss out on lots of magical hours watching kingfishers. I love the challenge and if it was easy it would be boring :-)

[Chris Hammond]

I'm not sure the rarity of the subject makes the getting of a good picture any more or less of a challenge Alan. Blackbirds for instance (in my humble opinion of course) offer a considerably greater photographic challenge than does a Kingfisher. The same is true of any mainly white or mainly black bird I think. There's often a bigger challenge in making our typically plain and understated species look interesting in a photograph too.

I can relate to your points about enjoying yourself over becoming a proficient tog though. When all is said and done very few of us will ever ascend beyond shooting wildlife for a hobby, so time and enjoyment as you say is the primary concern. Kingfishers are an extremely compelling species. I have to say in my locality it has been an enormously succesful breeding year for them. I cant remember seeing so many newly fledged families before.

[FUDGEY]

I know exactly what you mean Chris and never really thought of that before. My biggest challenge so far has been would you believe Highland cows! I would have thought nothing could be easier with several fields full of them. The problem not being in this case making the picture look interesting, but getting close to them. The most timid animals for being farm animals. I spent many hours trying to get a decent shot and almost gave up. By pure luck on my last attempt I decided to stalk them (sounds crazy I know) I drove round the back end of field behind a hill that's covered in gorse, my plan was to crawl through gorse and hide & wait. I got out car and when I closed the door 5 of them must have heard it & ran to top of hill to investigate. Bean bag quickly on car roof & got a great pic (great as in the way the 5 of them are standing in a line looking down at me) by pure luck. I have sold 6 pics in a week of them at £30 each so I'm over the moon.
Going back to Kingfishers, another reason I dont get turned on by what are as you rightly say are more challenging birds is even if I did get a fantastic shot of lets say a blackbird it would stay on my comp and be no further use to me, where as a kingfisher would be enlarged and put up in my sitting room or even sold. It is horses for courses ofcourse & up to the individual on what he or she enjoys at the end of the day. One things for sure, I'm not enjoying trying to get bullfinches, I can hear them everyday and they have came to my feeders once. I'm not looking forward to sitting in a hide waiting for them, but I've got some feeders with Niger seed today so I can photograph goldfinches as I wait :-)