Posted by Dale Sutton on April 16, 2010 at 5:09 AM
Taken a couple of years ago at a local site.Yes I do have a schedule 1 licence for this site.
1d mk 3
100mm macro
six vivitar 283
Infrared trigger's
As thes birds do not visit the nest very often I had two triggers on the hole one about 18 inches from the hole to catch them going in and one close to the hole to catch them comming back out to maximise my chance's
The Licence Number for this site at the time was 20073444
Good to see some experimenting going on - there was a similar shot in BBC Wildlife last month, but not as close as this one - 100mm macro The Exif says you used a 50mm f1.4 though, so how close did you place your gear ??
Not something I could try at my local site - 1 no license, and 2, my gear would get knicked !
Assume you had a shed 1 at the time as well as now
Strange you say that the adults were not visiting often when they were clearly feeding young
Posted by Calum Dickson on April 16, 2010 at 9:34 AM
Dale,
This has had over 100 views and only 1 comment. I can’t speak for anyone else but my initial thought when I saw the photo was “ohhh that is from way to close”. I understand that you have a schedule 1 licence but apart from adhering to the law we all as wildlife photographers have our own individual morals and boundaries which we adhere too.
Technically the photo is excellent but I think what we have here and based on my interpretation of the viewing stats is a moral dilemma. I am concerned about what I presume to be a 1d +Ef50, 2 triggers and 6 flash units within a few feet of nesting birds. It goes beyond what I would find to be morally acceptable in the pursuit of photography.
Posted by Dale Sutton on April 16, 2010 at 10:19 AM
When I photograph any nesting bird I have the utmost respect for the bird in question The equiptment was all moved in to position over a period of 10 days and all 5 young fledged successfuly. I would also like to point out that the picture is more than a third crop and the closest bit of equiptment was 2 meters away , are you saying that there is no one on this site that has been that close to a nesting bird when photographing?
I would also like to point out since this photo was taken the pair of kingfishers have reared 20young and fledged.
Cheers Dale. Points raised were out of concern for the subject, which as you know, should be paramount at all times
Posted by Jeff Harrison on April 16, 2010 at 12:42 PM
"I thought that it was my photos that were being critiqued not me and the way I conduct my interest"
Just to clarify Dale, here's an extract from the forum guidelines -"NPN is strictly dedicated to the art and technique of nature photography". So it seems to me that comments on technique are perfectly legitimate and shouldn't be taken personally, particularly as the ethics of wildlife photography is such a hot topic at the moment (see article in this month's 'BBC Wildlife' magazine).
As for Schedule 1 licensing, in my view it's always a good idea to mention that a licence is/was held whenever an image that seems to fall within the licensing parameters is posted anywhere.
That's a great image by the way
Posted by John Robinson on April 16, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Hi Dale
Did you leave the flashes and triggers etc out over the 10 days then ?
They wouldn't last 10 minutes araound here !
Posting flash pictures at the nest is wide open for comment these days as I have found out more than once. ! I remember applying for a licence to do it many years ago and was given a licence but "advised " not to use flash. Trouble was in those days we had no choice so I never did it.
JR
JR
Posted by Dale Sutton on April 16, 2010 at 3:20 PM
Hi John
It's Funny the other day when I posted a Swallow feeding young at the nest not a thing was mentioned about flash or how close the equiptment was etc.
No one seems to poo poo the late Eric Hoskins who was one of the pioneers of birds in flight, at the nest and then Stephen Dalton, all they got was Highly commended for their Work.
Posted by John Robinson on April 16, 2010 at 3:27 PM
Dale
This is not really the place to go over the why's and wherefore's of flash photography of birds etc,as the mods recently pointed out, I could easily go on about it for three weeks.
Suffice to say - things are different nowadays!!
JR
Posted by eric weight on April 17, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Dale, I liked your swallow shot very much and I like this one too. I don't know whether it is just the KFs vibrant colours, but I feel that the lighting on this one was not quite as good - it looks a bit too harsh for my taste. It is still a great shot imo and one I would give my right arm for. eric
Discussion
13 replies1d mk 3
100mm macro
six vivitar 283
Infrared trigger's
As thes birds do not visit the nest very often I had two triggers on the hole one about 18 inches from the hole to catch them going in and one close to the hole to catch them comming back out to maximise my chance's
The Licence Number for this site at the time was 20073444
Not something I could try at my local site - 1 no license, and 2, my gear would get knicked !
Assume you had a shed 1 at the time as well as now
Strange you say that the adults were not visiting often when they were clearly feeding young
This has had over 100 views and only 1 comment. I can’t speak for anyone else but my initial thought when I saw the photo was “ohhh that is from way to close”. I understand that you have a schedule 1 licence but apart from adhering to the law we all as wildlife photographers have our own individual morals and boundaries which we adhere too.
Technically the photo is excellent but I think what we have here and based on my interpretation of the viewing stats is a moral dilemma. I am concerned about what I presume to be a 1d +Ef50, 2 triggers and 6 flash units within a few feet of nesting birds. It goes beyond what I would find to be morally acceptable in the pursuit of photography.
I would also like to point out since this photo was taken the pair of kingfishers have reared 20young and fledged.
Dave
Lee
Just to clarify Dale, here's an extract from the forum guidelines -"NPN is strictly dedicated to the art and technique of nature photography". So it seems to me that comments on technique are perfectly legitimate and shouldn't be taken personally, particularly as the ethics of wildlife photography is such a hot topic at the moment (see article in this month's 'BBC Wildlife' magazine).
As for Schedule 1 licensing, in my view it's always a good idea to mention that a licence is/was held whenever an image that seems to fall within the licensing parameters is posted anywhere.
That's a great image by the way
Did you leave the flashes and triggers etc out over the 10 days then ?
They wouldn't last 10 minutes araound here !
Posting flash pictures at the nest is wide open for comment these days as I have found out more than once. ! I remember applying for a licence to do it many years ago and was given a licence but "advised " not to use flash. Trouble was in those days we had no choice so I never did it.
JR
JR
It's Funny the other day when I posted a Swallow feeding young at the nest not a thing was mentioned about flash or how close the equiptment was etc.
No one seems to poo poo the late Eric Hoskins who was one of the pioneers of birds in flight, at the nest and then Stephen Dalton, all they got was Highly commended for their Work.
This is not really the place to go over the why's and wherefore's of flash photography of birds etc,as the mods recently pointed out, I could easily go on about it for three weeks.
Suffice to say - things are different nowadays!!
JR