After 6 Years And 720,000 Attempts, Photographer Finally Takes Perfect Shot Of Kingfisher

Alan McFadyen, an avid wildlife photographer since 2009, just captured a perfect shot of a kingfisher he has spent six years trying to get. By his count, it took him 4,200 hours and 720,000 photos to get a perfect picture of a kingfisher diving straight into the water without a single splash.

“The photo I was going for of the perfect dive, flawlessly straight, with no splash required not only me to be in the right place and get a fortunate shot but also for the bird itself to get it perfect,” McFadyen told The Herald Scotland. “I would often take 600 pictures in a session, and not a single one would be any good. But now I look back on the thousands and thousands of photos I have taken to get this one perfect shot of kingfisher, and it makes me realize just how much work I have done to get it.”

McFadyen, who also runs a wildlife photography hide business, was inspired by his grandfather to love nature and wildlife. “I remember my grandfather taking me to see the kingfisher nest, and I remember being completely blown away by how magnificent the birds are. So when I took up photography, I returned to this spot to photograph the kingfishers.”

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It took Alan McFadyen 6 years, 4,200 hours, and 720,000 photos to get this shot:

“The photo I was going for of the perfect dive, flawlessly straight, with no splash required not only me to be in the right place and get a fortunate shot but also for the bird itself to get it perfect.”

“I would often go and take 600 pictures in a session, and not a single one of them be any good”

“He Said, I never really stopped to think about how long it was taking along the way as I enjoyed doing it, but now I look back on it, I’m proud of the picture and the work I put in.”

“I remember my grandfather taking me to see the kingfisher nest, and I just remember being completely blown away by how magnificent the birds are”

“I’m sure my grandfather would have loved it. I wish he could have seen it. All my family contacted me when they saw it and said he would have been so proud of it.”

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