Photographer Finally Gets The Perfectly Timed Snap Of A Kingfisher After Trying For 6 Years With 720,000 Shots
Alan McFadyen spent years chasing one very specific wildlife photo, and the final result was worth every frustrating second. The Scottish photographer took hundreds of thousands of frames before he finally captured a kingfisher diving cleanly into the water, with no splash at all.
That kind of shot takes more than luck, especially when the subject is a fast-moving bird that rarely gives photographers a second chance. McFadyen’s long wait, his family connection to kingfishers, and the sheer number of failed attempts make this story stand out.
Now the image is finally here, and the backstory is almost as impressive as the photo itself.
Being a wildlife photographer requires a level of patience beyond imagination, and behind every ‘perfect snap’ is a significant amount of work
Alan spent more than 6 years, over 4,200 hours, and took 720,000 frames before he was able to capture the ideal moment of a kingfisher diving into the water without making a single splash.
Alan spent over 6 years; that’s more than 4,200 hours and took 720,000 frames until he managed to achieve his goal
The perfect shot did not come easily, and the numbers behind it say a lot.
"The photo I was aiming 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 perform perfectly," McFadyen told The Herald Scotland.
"I would often go and take 600 pictures in a session, and not a single one of them would be any good. However, looking back on the thousands and thousands of photos I have taken to get this one image, it makes me realize just how much work I have done to achieve it."
The photographer captured a perfectly timed snap of a kingfisher diving into the water without a single splash
The photographer, who is 46 years old and lives in Scotland, recalls that his grandfather took him to watch kingfishers near Kirkcudbright when he was a young child, about forty years ago. Since then, he has been completely in awe of the vivid plumage of these birds.
And if you love patience like Alan’s, the 2026 British Wildlife Photography Awards showcase the world’s most relentless wildlife shots.
The 46-year-old Scotland-based photographer said it was his grandfather who took him to observe the kingfishers
That childhood memory clearly stuck with him.
"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," Allan said. "I’m sure my grandfather would have loved it; I just wish he could have seen it," Allan added.
The photographer used to visit the kingfishers' nesting spot about twice a day, around 100 days a year
On the sandy riverbanks, you will find burrows made by kingfishers. The burrows are typically one meter long and consist of a horizontal tunnel with a nesting chamber at the end.
Roughly 100 days a year, the photographer would spend about two hours each day visiting the kingfisher breeding area. During each session, he took over 600 photos, many of which were "useless."
Leave a comment below about this perfect kingfisher shot.
That kind of patience is hard to argue with.
Want more wildlife chaos? See how a bald eagle snatched fish from Alaskan waters.
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