Carmine Beeater

Gallery: AvianPosted October 29, 2014144 views15 comments

In Savuti (and probably elsewhere) Carmines follow a moving vehicle swooping down and around picking up the insects thrown up, when you stop so do they. So you have to try to shoot from the moving vehicle, good fun, and sometimes you get one in frame and rough focus.
EOS 1D MkIII
28-300mm F3.4 at 110 mm
F7.1
ISO 800
1/3200

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on October 29, 2014 at 4:14 AM

very impressive Ken, I know how hard it is to catch these blighters in flight.

Lovely iridescent colours. I would perhaps bring down the exposure by about half a stop.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on October 29, 2014 at 6:46 AM

Beautiful, Ken.
The contrast with the bg is pretty nice.
Very good wings position.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 29, 2014 at 9:06 AM

The exposure, colors and comp look super to me Ken. Amazing to get this at 110mm, great work!

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on October 29, 2014 at 1:23 PM

Fine image of this colorful bee-eater in flight, Ken. Amazing you could do this from a moving vehicle.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on October 29, 2014 at 1:32 PM

Nicely done, Ken, and interesting behavior, which shows that man's impact in the natural world can be advantageous to them. I guess that the vehicle has to be at a similar speed as the bird in flight.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on October 29, 2014 at 7:42 PM

Great job on a difficult capture Ken. Very cool looking bird and it does sounds like fun shooting from a moving vehicle. Hope you weren't driving!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on October 29, 2014 at 10:45 PM

Great shot, I like the colors and the contrast with the background.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on October 30, 2014 at 9:15 AM

Wishlist species

. Nicely caught in flight ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on October 30, 2014 at 12:16 PM

A superb shot, Ken. No nits from me.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 30, 2014 at 5:38 PM

Simply an awesome flight capture of this beauty

Excellent work Ken!

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by John Launstein on October 31, 2014 at 2:55 AM

Good grief, this is a stop-you-in-your-tracks capture, Ken...perhaps ironic because it sounds like stopping to photograph this subject was out of the question! I did a double-take at the "110mm" focal length as well but I suspect it's a lot more possible to pull this off up close and short than trying to weave a super tele around following their flight! Killer colours and great comp and wing position, with a catch light to boot. Nice is an understatement.

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on October 31, 2014 at 10:04 AM

Thanks everybody for your kind comments, sometimes photography can be rather and this was one of those occasions.
I wish someone had videoed our antics from a distance

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on October 31, 2014 at 5:21 PM

I'd say you nailed it! Makes me a bit woozy to think how difficult the capture was, so I'm really impressed. Wonderful color and good techs for a pleasing soft background that still has just enough texture. Expertly done.