
I Spent 35 Days Trying To Capture The Captivating Kingfisher (27 Pics)
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My name is Ruurd Jelle van der Leij and I’m a Dutch wildlife photographer and filmer. Over the past 35 days, I’ve spent more time in my shed than inside my house. The reason. I was working on a unique series of pictures of a kingfisher. The bird appeared in my garden a little over a month ago. It discovered the pond which contains a lot of fish. Before I had quite some experience with kingfishers so I knew that by placing a branch in the right place, I should be able to give the bird a nice fishing spot which was also easy to photograph.
And so it went, the bird kept coming back and after two weeks of filming the hunt and photographing it, I started a more creative approach. As kingfishers are a feast for the eyes, millions of pictures of the bird already exist. So I went for other angles like black and white, backlight and spotlight moments (lowkey) that only appeared one hour a day in that part of my garden. This shows the difficulty of taking all these pictures. When there was enough light for flight shots there was no bird and when the bird spend hours in a row in front of the shed, the sun was gone. These are the frustrating factors I always face during photography and film and you simply have to deal with it. When the trust was gained it was also very easy to replace the favorite branch of the bird for other branches or objects. This is where the book came in. A shot I knew would be nice to have and was not difficult at all to create anymore. After 6 hours, the bird showed up and without hesitation, it sat down on the book, even on the right page.
The most difficult was the underwater shot, but especially when you film a hunting kingfisher, you do want to know what happens once the bird enters the water. By creating a large setup with an aquarium I was able to film the catch and after a week of trying the photo was also acceptable.
After spending 3 years in the Dutch Wadden sea working with a team on the movie WAD, it is very satisfying to work in the garden with my kids around. In the past year, I photographed several species in front of the shed. All in their own setting. To me, the most challenging and satisfying part is not the birds but the setting.
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Succesful dive
Black and light
Kingfisher pearched in one of the trees
King of fishing
Autumn
All in
Ballet
After eating all the fish the kingfisher drops a pellet full of fishbones
Another succesfull dive
Fresh fish
In the spotlight
Diving for fish
Silhouette
Shaking up its feathers
Collored dove
Common redpol
Young goshawk caught a pigeon
Great tit and blue tit
Green woodpecker
Jay
Blue tit meeting a great woodpecker
Robin
Siskin
Sparrowhawk
Strange bird
Wren
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These are wonderful!
Ruurd Jelle van der Leij: I work at a Marina, and the opertunities I have to photograph various birds is great.. This little Kinglett I found after he smacked into my office window hard enough to knock himself out. It was about this time of year, and cold. but I warmed him up, and he flew off. Kinglett-5...54a1ed.jpg
I found this Juvenile Snow Goose on my launching ramp, his parents no where to be seen.. I dont know how he got here, but he waddled back down the ramp, and swam off Gosling-Sn...87eb4c.jpg
Awesome!
and this is one of my many favorite pictures.. A Bard Owl landed on a steel post outside my office, about 2m from me. IMG_201711...7a51aa.jpg
@Clavelle I live on the West Coast of Canada, and I work at a marina. I have many resident animals here, and owls are by far my favorite. Here are two videos of them calling https://youtu.be/djCER0Ebl5Y & https://youtu.be/pE7W5RxYB0U
Whoa! That is so cool. I've never seen an owl in the wild. Amazing pic Kanuck!
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This comment has been deleted.
Wow, I love his creative approach and how he challenged himself to find new ways of capturing an oft-photographed bird. These images are stunning works of art. Also, I am super jealous of his backyard! I get seagulls and sparrows outside my city apartment and that's about it!
These are wonderful!
Ruurd Jelle van der Leij: I work at a Marina, and the opertunities I have to photograph various birds is great.. This little Kinglett I found after he smacked into my office window hard enough to knock himself out. It was about this time of year, and cold. but I warmed him up, and he flew off. Kinglett-5...54a1ed.jpg
I found this Juvenile Snow Goose on my launching ramp, his parents no where to be seen.. I dont know how he got here, but he waddled back down the ramp, and swam off Gosling-Sn...87eb4c.jpg
Awesome!
and this is one of my many favorite pictures.. A Bard Owl landed on a steel post outside my office, about 2m from me. IMG_201711...7a51aa.jpg
@Clavelle I live on the West Coast of Canada, and I work at a marina. I have many resident animals here, and owls are by far my favorite. Here are two videos of them calling https://youtu.be/djCER0Ebl5Y & https://youtu.be/pE7W5RxYB0U
Whoa! That is so cool. I've never seen an owl in the wild. Amazing pic Kanuck!
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
Wow, I love his creative approach and how he challenged himself to find new ways of capturing an oft-photographed bird. These images are stunning works of art. Also, I am super jealous of his backyard! I get seagulls and sparrows outside my city apartment and that's about it!