Azure Kingfisher

Well it’s been a while since I last posted. This year I’ve decided to try and improve on my bird photography. Quite happy with my progress so far and starting to discover just where to find the birds that I’m interested in. Finally found the beautiful Kingfisher, a bird I’ve been searching for quite some. Love watching these little birds. The beautiful Azure Kingfisher will dive into the creek from a branch to catch fish and then return to a branch to consume the catch. Would love to get a shot of this little bird diving but they are so fast haven’t managed to get the shot as yet. the Sacred Kingfisher swoops down from a branch to the mud below to grab a crab. The bird will then fly off to a branch and proceed to shake their beak around to kill the crab. Sometimes this can take quite a while. Once the crab is dead the bird will swallow it and then continue to search for the next snack.

Sacred Kingfisher with Crab

Have been experimenting with the wet plate look using photoshop. Not sure if i’m there yet but these are a few of my first images.

Taking a rest from chasing birds today. Thought I might try to capture a bee in flight. Not as easy as you would think, using the Canon 100-400mm mark II. This lens focuses quite close so thought I might be in luck with the buzzing bees. Unfortunately didn’t get one as sharp as I would have liked. Sometimes success is down to perseverance and I will keep trying. In the meantime here are a few shots that came close.

Spent the morning looking for large birds. Hoping to get some in flight using my new lens. No such luck, even the seagulls were few and far between. Was very windy so that may have been a factor. Managed to find some small birds in the trees though. A pair of white breasted wood swallows mating and a little striated pardalote.

Very pleased with the new lens. Canon 100-400. mark II. Definitely an improvement on the original 100-400.  Faster focusing, better contrast. Now just have to find some birds to track in flight.

Welcome Swallow

Thought I would have a rest from shooting sunrise and try some nature photography. Found these little Welcome Swallows flitting about at Schuster Park on the Gold Coast. These amazing little birds dart about at speed catching their prey in the air. I did get a couple of shots in flight but unfortunately not as sharp as I would like. Extremely difficult to hold focus as they flit about catching insects at a million miles an hour. I will return to this spot though and try to capture one in flight. Quite a challenge compared to landscape, at least the rocks don’t suddenly move as you’re about to take the shot.

Fishing at Fingal

Visited Fingal Head hoping to get some long exposure images. Unfortunately my variable ND filter was just not doing the job. Waiting on delivery of a new 16 stop nd. Hopefully will arrive next week and I’ll have the opportunity to re-shoot. In the mean time this is one of the images of the day, processed using some texture layers.

Another shot from the day.

Fingal Head