SEARCHING IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE: fish

It's in my blood.
Since I was given my first camera, when I was a little kid, I have always been fascinated by capturing in a shot what my eyes were seeing around me. The beauty of nature or the smile of a friend, an event or an emotion... Precious pearls to be framed in a photo. Whether freezing a movement or moving the stillness, looking at normality through a different angle or portraying the exceptional, I can choose different perspectives, I can catch reality. I think this passion is in my blood, I inherited it from my Grandpa and then from my Dad, and it has always had a great influence in my life. Come and follow me in my journey searching impressions of life.

Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts

Sunday, April 16, 2017

The King

The Kingfisher, a blue rocket that dives at incredible speed and precision to catch the fish. This beautiful bird is not rare but being able to see it fishing is not that easy, especially considering its speed. I have seen this bird diving from the top of a big tree, 15 meters high, into a small pond and still catch the fish, of course all in a flash.

Taking pictures of the Kingfisher is great: the shape and colors of this bird make it a perfect subject for a nature photographer. However, even if a portrait shot is already a great picture – considering the beauty of this bird – taking a shot in flight is the ultimate goal of every photographer. And considering the speed of the Kingfisher, that is no easy task. So... of course I tried to do that.

Because of how fast it is, the camera must be set on a very fast shutter time – to be sure to freeze the bird's flight 1/3500-1/4000 sec is recommended – and it must be pre-focused on the spot where we think (or hope) the bird will dive. Autofocus would be really tough and all the water drops would anyway fool the lens view and make the camera focus off the real subject. The fast shutter time often prevents the photographer from being able to use a small aperture and depth of field is critical, especially when using a telephoto.

Here are my first results in this attempt of taking a good photo of the Kingfisher either diving or emerging from the water with the catch. The light was not that much, and to try and have a good depth of field I had to raise the ISO quite a bit. I even risked lowering the speed to a value, still pretty fast, but not completely safe. However, the fact that I took the bird while exiting the water, allowed for shots with no motion blur because the bird was slowed down by the fish and by the effort of flying out of the water.

They are not perfect, but I am pretty satisfied at the moment. And of course I will try again, looking for the perfect shot... wish me luck!

350mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO6400 -0.33

350mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO16000 -0.33

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Hunting Among the Water Lilys

It was not until I saw the shots I took, that the strength of the Squacco heron during hunting showed up so clearly. The bird walks over the Water lily leaves looking for its preys, very slowly, scanning the water, then suddenly springs into incredible action. That's the best moment to shoot to take very dynamic pictures. Also, since the weight of the bird tends to make it sink while walking on the floating leaves, you can predict when this heron will spread the wings to "stay up" and that is also another moment when you fire your shots. The mating season is a good moment because it brings a very colorful plumage and also the beak is colored of a bright blue, and that makes the photos more interesting.

I took pictures during two different moments with different conditions in the setting and lighting. The first time the Water lilys were all in bloom giving the setting a wonderful look. The light was harsh, though, because it was midday. The second time it was early morning, so the light was nicer, but it was later in the season and the flowers were almost all gone. Both times there were multiple challenges. I had to keep a fast shutter speed to freeze the bird's movement and at the same time a narrow aperture was needed to keep the subject in focus: Especially when the bird was springing towards the camera, the focus was very critical. The light was source of other problems, but also of opportunity. The harsh light of midday created often a back-lit effect with very interesting results. The high contrasts, however, requested some post processing work to balance the white of the wings vs the rest of the colors.

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO 320

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 320

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1250sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2000sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/1600sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @490mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @560mm f/8.0 1/2500sec ISO 640

EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM EXT @533mm f/8.0 1/3200sec ISO 800

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Kingfisher Paradise

Having read about the Oasi di Cervara and about the Kingfishers living in that area, I was very curious to go and see myself, hoping to be able to take some good shots of these beautiful birds. It's not very close to home, it takes three and a half hours to drive there, so I decided to leave on Friday evening to be already on location on Saturday morning, ready to go to the hide.

It couldn't have been a better decision: The place is lovely, the structure very efficient and the couple of Kingfisher had been quite active during the two days I spent there.

For the occasion, I brought a Canon EOS 1D X because of the higher frame/sec rate vs my 5D MkIII (12 vs 6) so I could have better chances to catch the Kingfisher in flight. The light was not 100% ideal the whole time and I had to push the ISO of my camera quite a lot in order to have short enough a shutter speed to frame such bullet-fast birds. Trying to freeze the birds in action, called for not longer times than 1/3200 or 1/4000 sec and depth of field was very important as well, to get a higher probability of having the subject in focus. I couldn't keep it that fast when it was darker, and many times I got shots not perfectly frozen (so I am not posting that many in flight, here). The high ISO required also often caused loss of detail and thicker grain.

After a few times, I could tell the bird's behavior and know from which perch it would dive or where it would go after a missed catch, but sometimes it would surprise me diving from a tree or from a distant perch. It's incredible how fast and precise the Kingfisher is, how it can spot, target and catch a fish from such a distance and so fast, usually piercing it with its pointed beak. Another wonderful perfect creation of God: how wouldn't you be amazed?

I am quite happy with some of the shots I took, but I consider these more like a first test, rather than top captures, and I hope to be able to go back and take advantage of what I learned from this first experience, hopefully with full sunny weather. Many thanks to Erminio for his kindness and hospitality.

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.5 1/4000sec ISO 1600

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/4.0 1/4000sec ISO 2000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/5000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO 1000

EOS 1D X – Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x III @420mm f/6.3 1/1250sec ISO 1000

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

When I Met the King

I had planned to post some images of wonderful autumn colors – even though, because of rain and bad weather, I haven't had the opportunity to shoot too much – but the visit to the wetland area of Racconigi and the encounter I had there last Saturday made me change plans.

The nice sunny day convinced me to try and go to the natural preserve of Racconigi, the center created in 1985 to reintroduce the white stork, which had stopped nesting in Italy since the eighteenth century. The success of the people who worked at this project has made this area a sanctuary for a lot of species of birds.

The two and a half hours it took to drive there were worth it, since I have been able to take my first pictures of the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). The sun was setting and the light was great. The little and fast bird posed for us a couple of times, with different light conditions and I tried to take the best out of it. The kingfisher was waiting for fish to pass by, resting on a branch quite far from us, but we knew there was a good possibility it would get closer, on a couple of single branches coming out of the water, just in front of where we were hiding (apparently that bird fishing there does it often). And in fact, that happened twice; the second time it actually came to swallow the fish just caught.

I tried to keep a fast shutter speed and so I pushed a little the ISO. I knew I might get some grain, but that is always preferable to a blurry photo. I got just enough to get a decent output, considering I was not well balanced and shooting hand-held. But to be the first shots at this wonderful bird, I am very happy with the results!