Alan McFadyen, who has been an avid wildlife photographer since 2009, just captured a perfectly timed photo that 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 shot 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 go and take 600 pictures in a session, and not a single one of them 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 get it.”

The common kingfisher is mostly known for his very bright plumage, that is quite atypical for birds living in colder climates. The bird usually lives near bodies of water and catches their prey by diving.

McFadyen, who also runs a wildlife photography side business, was inspired to love nature and wildlife by his grandfather. “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 same 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”

“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 really 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 just wish he could have seen it. All of my family contacted me when they saw it and said he would have been so proud of it.”