Yesterday the weather was lovely after work, so I headed to the inlet to spend some time with the kingfishers. For an hour I sat there and watched them play in the distance before they came even remotely close enough to photograph but I was happy to sit, watch and wait.
I counted five kingfishers out at the one time, so numbers are increasing in a pleasing way, but this post is about what happened after I had finished with the kingfishers for the day. I was just about to pack the camera in the car when a fantail flittered by my head. I turned around and followed it and to my surprise it stopped right above me on a low branch.
It was one of those times when I should have taken a step back or pulled in the lens but knowing fantails are so fast I just focused and pushed the shutter. I had a couple of minutes of the fantail bouncing around the low branches before it disappeared out of sight again. They are really friendly little birds but the are one of the hardest to get a decent shot of!
oh wow you did get some good shots of the fantails – such busy little fellas!
Lovely photos. I share your thoughts on the difficulty of photographing fantails. I’m always torn between auto focus and and manual focus. If the bird(s) stick around long enough I try a bit of both. I find auto is great if they are moving fast in the clear where there’s not to many obstructions (twigs, leaves etc) to catch the camera’s eye and cause it to focus on the wrong thing. I’ve managed some of my best action shots of fantails this way. But manual focus when you have to think about where the bird will be rather than where it is, gives better results especially if focusing through twigs and leaves to the bird. Of all the wonderful birds I’ve photographed I think an active fantail is the most challenging. Really enjoy your blog.
Thanks Steve, I really struggle with manual focus. My head keeps telling me I am missing good shots while I am waiting for the bird to go where I am focused on. I will get there in time but it is a slow learning curve for me.