Eurasian kingfisher and photography

 Alcedo atthis

  Coraciiformes - Alcedinidae

It is not that simple to take the images we'd like with those kingfishers. That is... to have it on a nice-looking perch, in the grazing morning or evening light and/or in flight or fishing action. 

Most of the time, it's not bad to manage 2 out of the 3 conditions but it is still quite frustrating especially as I have a precise idea of what I want to achieve!

In such cases, one must be ready to spend much time and even then, nothing is won.
Pending on the image that will make me happy - or not since I am a perfectionist never fully satisfied!!! - here are some attitude pics:

If the lake is in background, it is necessary to set the perch so that the water does not reflect the white of clouds: the cell will have problems analyzing the light, and the subject will have great chances to come out quite dark. Compensating with the settings is not a solution, the result will be too grainy.

At mid-day between 10:00 am and 5:30 pm or so, the sun beats down, the light is too hard and the shadow dropped by the beak literally cuts the bird's breast. A cloudy sky will decrease the light on the plumage and it will lack sharpness; it is somewhat the case here... Oh yes!

We are dealing with two youngsters here, the legs are still blackish instead of bright red as with adults; also the plumage isn't as richly colored. Bright hair-like feathers (filoplumes*) run down the back covering the tail.

It can appear turquoise-green or turquoise-blue like with this adult male photographed in 2012.

* Filoplumes are attached to nerve endings and help the contour feather to get back into place after a flying
or preening.