How did he do this?

Ben Hall is a photographer that I think does some great work - his website is a real inspiration. But I am wondering how he took this shot of a dipper.

http://www.benhallphot​ography.com/birds_in_t​heir_habitat.htm

How can you get the waterfall like that and yet have the bird sharp? I know how to get that effect on water and I know how to get a sharp picture of a bird (although my posts seem to suggest otherwise) but I wouldn't know where to begin to get the two together in one take.

tripod and a slow shutter speed. and hope the bird doesnt move much. with falling waterfalls youll be suprised how fast that effect can be achieved. according to the exif it was 2" at F22. and those birds are pretty lazy once theyve landed, so thats how he did it.

also, he does have some great shots. more of a mix of birds and landscape than pure bird photography

Well the dipper is called a dipper because of the constant movement it makes - he must have been very lucky to see one stand still for 2 seconds. I guess as the saying goes "the harder I work the luckier I get" Hats off to him.

mabye he had a neck ache yea i guess patience pays, thats seeming to be much more apparent to me. If you go at some bird guns blazing youll get some shots, but rish scaring him off easier. but if you take you time, risking it'll fly away while u do so, you will probably be much more happier with what you do get.

I think he used the waterfall photograph technique. Perhaps a little faster shutter speed, somewhere between 0.2s and 1s. That should be enought to get the silky effect. Now the difficuly part is the subject. In that photo, it seemed the bird was not feeding or actively moving (maybe Mr. Hall has a way to catch its attention ). Hence allowing the silky waterfall effect.

I've can't recall ever seeing a dipper stay still for even a fraction of a second, much less two seconds...

Photoshop, anyone?

Keith R wrote:
I've can't recall ever seeing a dipper stay still for even a fraction of a second, much less two seconds...

Photoshop, anyone?

How dare you. How very dare you!

That is a wonderful shot and I would guess it's actually 2 separate photos. One of the waterfalls using slow shutter speed and one of the bird. Then in Photoshop you just layer one on top of the other and paint in what you like of each shot.

Zip

He's a great photographer - some stunning work on his site.

The exif actually says that its half a second and ive sure that its possible to get the bird sharp. But it is also possible that it is a composite.

oops it does say half a second....

Hi Damian.
This image is in the Feb 2006 issue of "Outdoor Photograpy".
He states the bird was nesting by the waterfall and he took quite a few shots, many of them showed the dipper aa a blur.
As has been said 0.5 sec.
Other info....Canon 10D, 100-400 lens, ISO 100, f22 and tripod ( obviously )

So no merged shots nor PS trickery.