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Kingfishers 31-7-2015

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andygolfer
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Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by andygolfer » Sat Aug 01, 2015 12:44 pm

I did quite a bit of birding yesterday, in the afternoon I went to RSPB Rye Meads at Roydon on the Essex Herts border to try for some kingfisher pics. I saw some but they were on the most distant post so I had to crop the pics very heavily so not perfect but still nice to see. Here's 3 of them:

Image0738 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

Image0723 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

Image0656 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

hope they are of interest
Andy (I know they are grainy due to the cropping but C&C still welcome)
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mach one
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by mach one » Thu Aug 06, 2015 6:27 pm

very nice, I would love to get the chance to photograph a kingfisher

but sadly for this type of photography the 100-400 is a bit lacking in length and doesnt work well with extenders

http://www.bird-wildlifephotography.com ... pmentGear/

you need one of those for serious birding but how would you sneak that in the house :lol: :lol:

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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by andygolfer » Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:06 pm

I was using a 100-400 and it was a struggle, the birds ere just a dot in the middle on the original images!

The problem with anything larger is two fold and diametrically opposite - the lenses are very heavy and at the same time the wallet is an awful lot lighter! :D

I need to pick my locations carefully but having said that, the day after i went to Rye Meads someone got some pics of kingfishers on the much closer posts, about a quarter of the distance which i was taking them at :mad:

Extenders don't work with my camera , everything has to be set manually and for fast moving birds that's difficult (and the IS doesn't work either).
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by mach one » Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:28 pm

I know what you mean about the cost of the canon long lenses , i have always wanted to buy a 300 2.8 and this year may be time to scratch that itch, it would be a good partner to the 70.200 2.8 that i have just had this year

I have the 100.400 mk 1 and it is all but sold, after little gransden it will be heading for a new home and the money is going in the 300, 2.8 slush fund

last year at RIAT i met two guys from france who were over for riat and then going to the loop for some low level action, they were both kitted with canon 1D,s and the canon 600, F4 lenses stuck on the front the cost must have been eye watering for that set up and well out of my league

i this year at riat there was a guy in the tent next to us that hired the new 100-400 mk 11 for the week and he was very happy with the results that he was getting from it seems it is a step up from the 100-400 mk 1 that i have at the moment

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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by PorkScratching » Fri Aug 07, 2015 8:51 am

The EF 100-400L Mk2 is a superb piece of kit. A friend upgraded from the Mk1 this year and it is so much sharper. Strangely at RIAT he didn't like my suggestion that I use his Mk2 and he could borrow my Mk1 :) Anyway, it's definitely on my shopping list - I like the flexibility of a zoom and it's not as heavy as some of the monster primes.

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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by Mike » Fri Aug 07, 2015 3:01 pm

Nice shots Andy, I don't think I've ever seen one ! :)
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by mach one » Fri Oct 16, 2015 9:21 pm

well tomorrow may be the day that i get to photograph a kingfisher, the car is packed and i am off in the morning to a spot i was at today

the man i was talking to had some nice shots of a kingfisher that was fishing in some shallow water at the edge of the lake, there is a couple of perches and if in use i should hopefully finally get my first photo of the kingfisher

apparently there are two or three birds that use this spot so fingers crossed for some nice light and some hungry kingfishers

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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by andygolfer » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:25 am

mach one wrote:well tomorrow may be the day that i get to photograph a kingfisher, the car is packed and i am off in the morning to a spot i was at today

the man i was talking to had some nice shots of a kingfisher that was fishing in some shallow water at the edge of the lake, there is a couple of perches and if in use i should hopefully finally get my first photo of the kingfisher

apparently there are two or three birds that use this spot so fingers crossed for some nice light and some hungry kingfishers
Good luck with the pics Neil, I look forward to seeing the results
Andy
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by mach one » Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:09 pm

well they were a bit elusive today and they were not fishing just a quick flit in for a look around and then they were gone, so it was a bit difficult to get ant real good shots and like yours they are quite heavily cropped

here are a couple of shots

Image

Image

and a short video

https://youtu.be/lJIi48FxLVg

It was really nice to get up close to the kingfishers and it is definitely a place i will return to in the quest for better results

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andygolfer
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by andygolfer » Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:46 am

Very nice Neil. You did well to find them landing long enough for a photo, took me a lot of trips to achieve that
Andy
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Re: Kingfishers 31-7-2015

Post by mach one » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:19 pm

Cheers andy

I had only been there for about 10 minutes when the female arrived for a quick look around, shortly after the male came in and he was further away so the shots of the male are even more distant, i stayed for about four hours and only really had three chances to get any sort of shots, one of the locals said that that perch tends to get used more when the sun is shining so maybe a trip back on a sunny day is in order

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