How to get great photographs of a Kingfisher

[@sinhatarunkumar7365]

Great photo shoot

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thank you very much.

[@SimonOnMyChannel]

Your images bought a smile to my face. I've only managed to photograph a Kingfisher once, great photos.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

I am very lucky to have the pond five minutes from where I live.

[@russelldymott7965]

Great video Darrell , I have recently found a pair of kingfishers locally and have got some shots but this will help me improve on them so thank you

[@AliasMrHackenbacker]

Great image captures. You are making me think about having a go at bird photography.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Go for it. It takes patience but it is worth it.

[@jasonrowley4440]

Hi Darrell - not sure if you have noticed but you have at least two different kingfishers there. At 2.39 and 9.22 its a mature female with very distinct pink "lipstick" while the others all seem to have just a slight hint of pink lipstick and I suspect its a young female(s) perhaps from this year's brood. Great video as always.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Yes. someone else has mentioned that one is a Juvenile. There is a male about as well.

[@SuperFucdat]

Great shots Darrell. Glad to see the open space behind you blacked out. It doesn’t just make the hide darker inside, it also eliminates any chances of your outline being visible to whatever is looking in, which in this case is that Kingfisher. I also sometimes put ground bait under a perch will will encourage the fish which will hopefully make your perch one of it’s favourites. I use a ground bait that attracts smaller fish & if ducks are a problem put the ground bait in a hessian pouch. Do you know where they are nesting?

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Good idea about the ground bait. I don’t know where they nest. They do frequently visit the pond which is surrounded by marshy woodland. It would be very difficult to track them.

[@CharlesPalmerPhotography]

Some great shots, did you use a teleconverter for the really zoomed-in shot, or was it just cropped? Great detail either way!

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

My lens is a 200-500 mm. I don't have a converter. When the bird lands on the perches close to the hide very little cropping is required - I only need to crop when it is further away.

[@CharlesPalmerPhotography]

@@DarrellOakdenPhotography great, thank you.

[@dalepowell5368]

This is lovely to see. I'm currently photographing some local kingfishers, it's been 4 years in the making. I would chop my arm off for light like you're getting. Just wonderful.

[@michaelgerhold5659]

Hey Darrel! Nice video with great outcome! Proofs again that patience pays off in wildlife photography. I am working on the same Subject atm and already hot some shots but he is always a bit far away so I am planning to introduce a new purch tommorow... BTW.... I really like the greenish color of this specimen. Best Michael

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

There are a few more Kingfisher videos coming over the next few weeks. All the best with your project.

[@TatraScrambler]

Damn it, those 46 megapixels really show here... I have a basic Nikon 70-300 mm f/4.5-6.3 VR on a crop camera (so 450 mm in full frame terms) and pics made from comparable distances look nothing like these... And they say equipment doesn't really matter :D Yeah right.

[@larrydelambe]

Love your kingfisher shots but i need to know where to look for the kingfishers. is it deep or shallow water, is it on a bend and is the water fast flowing. also would you reccommend thin or thicker perches? Thanks Larry Boden

[@CamillaI]

Great video and hide Darrell you certainly got more shots than me last week of the Kingfisher it landed everywhere except my pre set branch! I was going to suggest stopping down to f7.1 but your background seems to be a little distracting and you seem to have all the bird in focus/ very sharp. Are you close enough to the perch to throw out the background more, or do you need a 400 f 2.8 like me? Great detail loved the portrait shot. Unfortunately the judges/critics are only interested in the photo and not how long it took to capture the image! At least thats the case at my Camera Club.👍😍

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

I would love a 400mm 2.8 but the bank balance won't take the hit. The shots with distracting backgrounds are taken a long way from the hide. The shots on the close perches have very diffused backgrounds. I gave up entering competitions because of inconsistent judges (and I am one) In my opinion a super diffused background isn't always necessary. Take the photos you like and don't show them to a judge if you think they will find fault, but I consciously gave up taking images for judges.

[@naturearoundus3081]

Thanks for the interesting video. Good job.

[@asifalam223]

You really get some extraordinary shot of this beautiful kingfisher Bird 👌👌 Keep Continue 💐

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks Asif. There is another video coming in two weeks with images that I think are even better.

[@smickphoto]

Excellent video all that hard work paid off - you and your friend need to rent this hide with McDonalds included.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

I am very lucky to have this 5 mins walk from my house. I went down this morning to take my friend a print and saw both male and female 6 or 7 times from the kitchen window and of course I didn’t have my camera.

[@jonblackburn5896]

Wow! What stunning photographs of the kingfisher. We found ourselves getting closer to the screen to enjoy looking at the great feather detail you captured. We think this one is 10 out of 10 and we are awarding you a gold star. Jon & Sandra

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

You are very kind. I finished another video yesterday with the Kingfishers. I have put new perches in and I think the images are even better that will go up in two weeks. Next week is a Lake District video.

[@jonblackburn5896]

@@DarrellOakdenPhotography Looking forward to the videos. We were really amazed at the sharpness and detail you managed to capture with that lens. Mind you it's mainly to do with your preparation, hide, close location of perches, and most of all patience. It isn't just the kingfisher photos that are great, but the fun of watching you setting up the hide over the last few videos. Jon & Sandra

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks so much. I am in the process at the moment of filming a video where I am trying to put fish in a bucket under the perch to try and catch it diving. Fingers crossed.

[@TMTyoutube]

kzbin.infoJVcwC0Cw7XY?feature=share It's a kingfisher right?

[@Ken_H_]

Good effort Darrell, great to spot a kingfisher nevermind get such great shots 👍

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks Ken

[@billymead2011]

dam that intro was loud lol

[@adrianmoore8200]

great shots and nice shots

[@Mark-Huigen]

Beautiful shots! Thanks for the great video. I'm still trying to track down a kingfisher but they are a bit more illusive in the Netherlands. I'll just keep on trying!

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Great to have a viewer in the Netherlands. I am lucky to have somewhere to see them right on my doorstep.

[@SkylarkFields]

Another great video - entertaining and informative, and you managed to get some superb shots.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@andrewbaxter9395]

Thoroughly enjoyable Darrell, my favourite of all birds and some stunning images 👍

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks Andrew. There is another video coming in a few weeks. I have put some extra perches in and I think the images are even better.

[@johnsparkes8963]

Stunning images Darrell, well done for patience in capturing them.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks John. I do find it very rewarding and quite a privilege to get so close to these beautiful birds.

[@KGsPhotography]

Another great video Darrell. Patience certainly pays off with some great shots to show for it. Some slow motion footage of the Kingfisher taking off from the perch would be amazing 😉. Cheers Keith

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

I will try to get some slow mo next time I am in the hide.

[@Derbyshire_bird_tours]

Really enjoyed your video Darrell, you caught your increasing excitement brilliantly. Subbed for future content. Cheers

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

Thanks Stewart. I'm really glad you enjoyed the video. 😀

[@darryllane1299]

Hi great captures of the juv..

[@paulwhitton3013]

Very nice Video, some suggestions for you, and I am not saying I’m the greatest kingfisher photographer of all time by any means, just some helpful things I have discovered. I would think about prefocused action shots when the bird is coming and going from your perch, a flight shot moments before it land or milliseconds after it takes off are fabulous. pre focus on the perch itself in anticipation of him/her coming and going. Also If you notice kingfishers will also more often than not return to the same perch they dived from to Consume the fish they captured which is a very interesting moment to capture too, so stay pre-focused on the perch till it’s return. Another thing to try is ditching your tripod and upping your iso to try some flight shots. I recommend iso between 1000 and 2000. To get your shutter up to around 1000th of a sec. or higher, aperture priority with your ev on -1. Keep winding your iso up till your shutter is 1000th or more, hopefully on a sunny day 1600th to 2000th will be achievable. And lastly, I would not recommend more perches, rather change out the existing ones with new and different ones to achieve different looks, to many perches will give the bird to many options and result in you being nothing more than than disadvantaged trying to keep up with predicting the movements of which perch the birds is going to land on. keep its choices limited and your have the upper hand on forecasting its movements. I hope this helps you, it’s so addictive and fun photographing these little blue bullets.

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

HI Paul. Thanks for your suggestions.

[@cerealkiller4248]

Love the pig pen hide, genius. Try getting some pics early/late when the quality of the light is better, that’ll move your images into the next level. Thoroughly enjoying this series, I may go out Sat morning myself, thanks

[@DarrellOakdenPhotography]

I have been there at all times. I mainly do first thing in the morning therefore I can’t get any better quality of light. All my best shots are before 8.30. Evening light wouldn’t work because trees behind the pond would block the light.