p.2 #2 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
Bobg657 wrote:
Just amazing shots, your patience paid off! YGMV!
BOB
Thank you sir!
sometimes...only sometimes in wildlife photography patience pays off...
p.2 #3 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
dalite wrote:
Truly once in a lifetime shots. Congratulations. Hard to believe the last shot but I do believe!
Thank you for your trust!
Yes...some may not belive it...but trust me...all is true (and I can prove it)
p.2 #4 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
sum1sgrampa wrote:
guess I'm the odd man out here. While I can appreciate the technical wizardry that would be required for these types of shots and also the time investment and dedication, I don't see where the "ends justify the means". Everything is obviously artificial and it shows. Sort of like a shot of a rare bird on a feeder. There is just nothing pleasing to view about any of these so guess I just don't see the point. Please don't shoot me, just an opinion.
Gary
Ha ha! you made me laugh!
" technical wizardry"...there is nothing wizardry about this pics....just tons of patience, technique and high tech..
"there is just nothing pleasing to view about any of these"... yeap! you may be the odd man as you said
"please don't shoot me, just an opinion"... why on earth should we shoot you? in advanced countries we donīt shoot anyone!
p.2 #6 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
dclark wrote:
Wow! Amazing images. It's great that you got shots of all the phases, the dive, the underwater catch, and the re-emergence. I like them all, but I am skeptical about the last one.
Dave
Thanx for the kind words.
About the last one...I can assure you its a real capture and it made to the press specially in the UK for a while..
I was the first impressed with this as I was unsure the bird would pose...
My plan was to wait for the bird to pose on my long Laowa lens, as it had done it before (without me), so I took the chance and with camouflage net, covered myself and waited...only minutes later I had the kingfisher over my head (NOT planned!), dived in front of me, and posed on my lens (yeap, got the pic too!).
You can imagine the experience...having a wild kingfisher just centimeters away (had to close my eyes as I didnt want to scare it).
p.2 #9 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
slo000 wrote:
What is the long tubular lens you are using and what is its purpose? Awesome photography!
Hello!
The lens is a speciallized macro lens (focusing to infinity) by Laowa, the 24mm Probe lens.
Last part of the lens is submergible, and in the tip of it you have leds to avoid during focusing (2x max).
p.2 #12 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
dallvr wrote:
That second photo, the underwater fishing, is amazing! I also enjoyed the photos of the Kingfisher with the photographer.
Thank you!
The underwater shot was very difficult as it was shot on a manual lens, and every single millimeter counts for the Out Of Focus thingy
p.2 #13 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
That takes great research and imagination to perfect the set-up and actually get a great underwater shot. It may all be "artificial" but it is the only way to reveal this behaviour and the bird is still wild. In that regards, most wildlife shots are artificial. I salute your ingenuity to get a great set of shots. I am a fan!
Don
p.2 #16 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
I can believe you.
Once I was swimming in a river in the jungle with a friend and there was a small piece of driftwood/log sticking out of the water near by where we lay in the water, barely 3 feet away from us. Common Kingfishers as well as some other types of kingfishers are very common in the area. We were just lolling in the shallow warm water on a hot muggy afternoon in the Sri Lankan jungles and all of a sudden a little Common Kingfisher came and landed on the stick right next to us. The normally very shy bird was oblivious to our presence. Somehow the little bird seemed not to associate our presence as humans/people in the water and it just perched and chirped a few times looks this way and that and even straight at us. We were totally transfixed and silent and it stayed at least a full minute before it flew away! I could have touched it if i stretched my arm out!
p.2 #17 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
DonGut wrote:
That takes great research and imagination to perfect the set-up and actually get a great underwater shot. It may all be "artificial" but it is the only way to reveal this behaviour and the bird is still wild. In that regards, most wildlife shots are artificial. I salute your ingenuity to get a great set of shots. I am a fan!
Don
" It may all be "artificial" but it is the only way to reveal this behaviour and the bird is still wild. In that regards, most wildlife shots are artificial" --> Totally agree with this....unless you have months to invest like the Nat Geo photographers in Africa...this is the only way to get fresh and impacting captures
p.2 #20 · Kingfisher like you have never seen it before
mabidally wrote:
I can believe you.
Once I was swimming in a river in the jungle with a friend and there was a small piece of driftwood/log sticking out of the water near by where we lay in the water, barely 3 feet away from us. Common Kingfishers as well as some other types of kingfishers are very common in the area. We were just lolling in the shallow warm water on a hot muggy afternoon in the Sri Lankan jungles and all of a sudden a little Common Kingfisher came and landed on the stick right next to us. The normally very shy bird was oblivious to our presence. Somehow the little bird seemed not to associate our presence as humans/people in the water and it just perched and chirped a few times looks this way and that and even straight at us. We were totally transfixed and silent and it stayed at least a full minute before it flew away! I could have touched it if i stretched my arm out!...Show more →
Thats the kind of experience you can get at this hide in Barcelona! Well...you wont be able to get inside the water yourself as you did in Sri Lanka (amazing place btw!)....but you will be watching the bird dive at only 2 meters...the record diving count was last year as the pair was raising their offspring...44 dives! (not all successful though).
