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| Fish - here I come! |
This little beauty is the Common Kingfisher - the smallest of the Kingfishers we have in Israel but arguably the most beautiful one. He was observing the water below and has apparently identified some fish just waiting to be caught, and is in the process of taking off. This is a capture of a split-second action - the Common Kingfishers are very quick.
What do I like about this photo? The action, the catch of the exact moment the wings are fully extended. This shows a moment we are not able to perceive with our naked eyes. The color contrast between the colorful Kingfisher and the duller branches and background is also striking. I used an open aperture (f/6.3 - the most open my lens supports at the focal length of 400mm that I used) to blur out the background while keeping the subject in focus. I used a fast shutter speed (1/2500 of a second) to freeze the action.
What would I want to improve? An even shallower depth of field is called for, but unfortunately I do not have a faster lens. I would also have liked to be closer to get more details.