Dancing with Stars

The story behind this print

Meet Priscilla, queen of the Dodder. I call the male Elvis, so Priscilla seems a fitting name for his mate.

You can tell it’s a female from the orange lower beak - I imagine her putting on her lipstick every morning before heading out to see her adoring fans.

Catching a kingfisher in flight is technically very difficult - it requires very bright light, a clean open space, the correct camera settings, skill to time and follow the flight - acquired over months / years of trial and error and a great deal of luck.

When you do manage to catch a sharp flight shot the secret sauce that elevates the shot to the next level is an aesthetically pleasing form to the body. If the wings are ‘mid flap’ the body is hunched and that just doesn’t float my boat.

I’m always looking for either the upbeat, where you can see the beautiful orange of the underside of the wing or the full downbeat, revealing all the exquisite details of blue with the flecked highlights like stars dancing in the night sky.