Rat_Salad

Mmmmm.... Dragonfly !

Better weather meant a chance to go and catch up with some old friends - and here one is making the most of a dragonfly larvae lunch!...
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Better weather meant a chance to go and catch up with some old friends - and here one is making the most of a dragonfly larvae lunch!
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Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

settings

Aperture f/6.3 ISO 3200 Shutter 1/2000 Focal Length 600/1

upload_date

Jan, 2016

Views

230

Likes

+20

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Behind The Lens

Location

This image was taken at a nature reserve in Cardiff, South Wales, UK, which is a frequent haunt of kingfishers due to the abundant pond life. The ponds are fringed with reeds and perches deliberately placed to entice the birds to use them in positions advantageous to birders and photographers alike...

Time

The image was shot around midday, the light was not the best, necessitating a rather higher ISO than I would have liked in order to keep the shutter speed adequate...

Lighting

With the light levels being moderately low, and the light being winter light, the image doesn't pop as nicely as it might, but luckily being against a backdrop of winter reeds the bird stands out reasonably well without having to resort to too much post processing, a slight vignette holds the eye in frame...

Equipment

This was shot with a Canon 1D MkIV (I have since migrated onto a 1D X) with an APS-H 16mp sensor mounting a Canon 600mm F4 IS USM 'L' series lens on a Gitzo 3 series tripod and Jobu gimbal head. No flash was used.

Inspiration

Wildlife photography for me wherever possible is to 'catch them in the act' and reveal behaviour of the subject, especially if it is a little different from the norm. To be honest and transparent when this image was taken it was because I saw the bird flying in to the perch and thought it had a small fish and I was waiting to get it performing the 'toss' when the bird re-orientates the fish to swallow it, I took the image as part of a string anticipating the action only to find out shortly afterward that it wasn't a fish at all...

Editing

Cropping, sharpening and noise reduction was performed using Canons own DPP software, and then minor adjustments for white balance, colour/vignette, contrast etc were performed in Adobe Lightroom... (please note other software is available..!)

In my camera bag

I now tend to carry a 1D X and the 600mm for wildlife, and I have both the 1.4x and 2x MkIII extenders should they be required. I also use a Canon 24-105 f4 and 16-35 f4 from their 'L' series range for landscapre use. I use two gitzo tripods, one fitted with the Jobu gimbal for wildlife, and a manfrotto geared head for landscape use. I also have a lighweight Fiesol tripod for when I need to walk any great distance. I normally have a pair of 8x vortex binoculars with me when after wildlife... Other gear gets taken on an ad hoc basis...

Feedback

Learn where the wee beasties you are trying to photograph and then spend hours practising! Visit as often as possible, practise, practise, practise...if you keep plugging away and learn your gear inside out you will get there. With regards equipment don't be seduced by fads, buy the best lens you can afford and stick a cheap camera on it initially (even cheap cameras are darned good now!) and then upgrade the camera when you get the chance...

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Rat_Salad

Mmmmm.... Dragonfly !

Better weather meant a chance to go and catch up with some old friends - and here one is making the most of a dragonfly larvae lunch!... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Rat_Salad

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Better weather meant a chance to go and catch up with some old friends - and here one is making the most of a dragonfly larvae lunch!...
Read more

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Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.