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Malachite Kingfisher

A little malachite kingfisher perched on a reed.

A little malachite kingfisher perched on a reed.
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Jan, 2018

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Behind The Lens

Location

My mum and I had been hopping around nature reserves all day without seeing much activity. We got to Rietvlei (just outside Cape Town, South Africa) at the end of the day and I mentioned I'd seen lots of great photos shared from this particular reserve. We walked to one hide, sat in there a while, and saw nothing - so we walked to the second hide. Just as we entered, this kingfisher landed on the reeds a few feet outside the hide window. Very lucky timing!

Time

Just before sunset, so everything had a nice warm glow and the light was at just the right angle to catch the colours in the kingfisher's feathers.

Lighting

No extra lighting here - all natural!

Equipment

I shot this really quickly, not wanting to miss the opportunity in case the kingfisher flew away. No tripod, I just balanced the camera on the hide's window opening. The camera is a Nikon D7000 and the lens is a 70-300mm Nikkor kit lens.

Inspiration

I really wanted a good kingfisher photo! I've been living in South Africa for nine years and until recently, hadn't even seen any of the local kingfishers. When my mum visited from Wales for a couple of weeks, we visited a few nature reserves and wetlands and although we spotted some kingfishers, they were too far away for good shots. We got really, really lucky that this one showed up as soon as we entered the hide, and so close. It was also the first time I'd seen a malachite kingfisher, yay!

Editing

I use Adobe Lightroom to tweak brightness, contrast, saturation, etc. - as well as de-noising and sharpening. Obviously being a nature shot I keep everything 'realistic' and stick to the true colours, so this shot isn't edited much at all, just cleaned up a bit.

In my camera bag

I'm poor, so not much! The camera I have (a Nikon D7000) was a kit deal and came with an 18-55mm lens and a 70-300mm lens (which I used for this shot). I also have a Tamron f2.8 macro lens that I take with me everywhere, as well as some cleaning bits and bobs (a squeezy air blower, brush, some alcohol wipes and a cloth). I keep a Kenko MC Protector filter on my lenses always, and have a dark ND filter on hand just in case.

Feedback

Be patient! Bird photography can be a very slow and tedious process if nothing shows up while you're in the hide. Talk to people who know the places you're visiting, ask them where they've seen particular birds, and if they see them at any particular time of day. Be prepared to sit in a hide for a few hours, and to wander around between hides. Make sure you've got your camera settings all set up right so that if opportunity strikes, you can get straight to shooting and don't have to fiddle with adjusting for light levels and so on.

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PixiePics

Malachite Kingfisher

A little malachite kingfisher perched on a reed.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow PixiePics

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