TAKE YOUR PIC

Our feathered friends make great models. Toast Coetzer discusses bird photos sent in by our readers.

GERT JANZEN VAN VUUREN

IG: @vuurengert

Canon EOS R6

Canon 100 – 500 mm lens

GERT WRITES: We often see a pair of giant kingfishers at Otter Bridge in Rietvlei Nature Reserve near our home in Centurion. My wife Ester and I try to visit the reserve every weekend, especially in summer.

The kingfishers like to hunt for fish and crabs. In the afternoons, we park with the sun at our backs so that it illuminates the bridge and the birds. We sometimes sit there for hours to watch the kingfishers

– they’re particularly active between 2 pm and 5 pm.

I took this photo in October 2020. The male kingfisher (he has a brickcoloured chest; the female has a brick-coloured belly) was waiting for crabs to wash over the drift so he could catch them.

We waited patiently because we’ve learnt that once he catches a crab, he throws it into the air and beats it on a branch or rock to break off the legs and pincers so the crab is easier to swallow.

To capture the action, I used these settings: shutter speed

1/4 000 second, aperture f7.1 and

ISO 1 600.

TOAST SAYS: In the 1980s TV series The A-Team, the cool-and-calm team leader Hannibal liked to say, “I love it when a plan comes together!” He said it with a grin and a cigar clenched between his teeth. Well, it’s time to get you a cigar, Gert, because your action photo is our winner this month!

Ask around any bird hide where photographers with long lenses like to show off their best shots on camera screens: They’ll tell you that they get those shots when they’re patient. Yes, sometimes you get lucky, but the best bird photos are taken when you study your subject’s behaviour and can predict what it will do next.

Birds are small and fast – they flit around from place to place. If you swing your camera around trying to follow the action, you’ll end up with sore muscles and 200 out-of-focus shots of tail feathers, especially if you’re trying to get the bird in flight. Take your time. Settle in. Watch the birds. Is there a branch they keep returning to? Start there.

Gert and Ester have been visiting Rietvlei for 14 years, and he only got this photo now! But when the moment arrived, he was ready, and that’s all that matters.

Enjoy that cigar, Gert, and your new camera bag!