Kotare (Kingfisher)

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I spent a pleasant afternoon following the tide line along the harbour this afternoon and encountering a number of shore birds including the very endangered NZ Dotterel. I really feel I am beginning to get the hang of this photography business now (thanks alot to this website and the helpful people who contribute) although I still get stumped by a few things. I also feel I am at my limits with the length of my 250mm lens, I can't quite get close enough without the birds spooking and I find I'm having to crop heavily to get a decent picture and even then the focus is often out. It's pretty hard to focus on a pin point sized eye and a lot is hit and miss.....more miss. I tend to get the body but not the head. Do I need to close down the aperture to get a better chance of having the whole bird in focus?

So the question with this one is, is the kingfisher big enough to warrant it being a good picture? Personally I feel I want it too be closer but I think it would then lose detail(is that when is becomes noisy?)

As an aside, what size lens would be ideal for this kind of bird watching, 400mm? Thanks for any advice.



Exif data
Camera Sony DSLR-A350
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 250 mm
ISO Speed 200

[RichardTaylor]

For a bird in scenery I think it is a good pic, mainly because of the composition.
Try shooting around F8-F11 that will give you a bit more leeway, however at the expense of not isolating the bird from the background.

Re lenses.
Longer is better and I feel at least 400mm is a good start.
I use a Canon 100-400 for most of my shooting where I want some reach, including birding.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks Richard. As always, great advice.

[sweetdani]

nice and clean shot, i like your shot well work man

[Peggyjom]

We would like to have a 600mm for this shot but....... I have to work for a living and that just isn't in the budget. I went with a 70-200 2.8 L IS II with a 2X teleconverter. So that takes me out to 400 but if you take off the teleconverter it is a fantastic low light sports lens, active kids pets or what ever you wish! It's fast, quick to focus, good bokah, a bit heavey but I quickly got use to it! It is addicting.
If you have a rental place close by check out different lens.

Nice shot you have here the little fishers do not sit still close to the camera! Normally you hear them they dive past and land two football fields away!

[Jinks]

There's no question that it's a good picture. Excellent composition and exposure even down to the little bit of light reflected in his eye.

I suppose in an ideal world you'd want to be a little closer to pick up more details from the feathers etc. but you'd possibly lose some of the background which as it is adds greatly to the image.

Enjoy it for what it is, it's not worth beating yourself up because of equipment you haven't got.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thank you sweetdani, Peggyjom & Jinks for you lovely comments, pleased you like my capture. There are about 6 or 7 kingfishers that sit on a row of breakwater rocks at low tide. They do let me get quite close but will soon scoot across to the lone rocks and buoys on the sea bed. I'm forever walking back and forward, I think they do it on purpose.

One day sooner or later(I hope sooner) I'm going to be able to purchase some new equipment, all this good advice is being quietly filed away for later use.

Here's a couple more-