Belted Kingfisher

[Richard Dubiel]

Placed my tripod & gear down behind some tall reeds, took a peek and saw her sitting there. Tucked back in, pointed my camera in the general direction and leaned out with tripod now only standing on 2 legs and leaning towards the water surface. Managed to fire off a half dozen shots. Tried to move forward a little closer, but spooked her. This is a portrait crop from a landscape shot, taken just before 8:00 am.

D300 + Nikkor 600mm VR + TC14E-II; ISO400, f.7.1, 1/800 sec, -0.3EV



116662


Your comments and views are appreciated and welcomed.

[David Salem]

Well lit and exposed very nice. Sharp at the eye and great detail. The dark BG makes the birds hackels very defined. The only crit is the middle of the lower mandible is lost in the dark BG. Nice Job!!

David

[Richard Unsworth]

Jumpy birds indeed and its a really nice shot of one.
I suspect that bill looks fine on your desktop but has gone just a wee bit dark on posting - correct?
Alittle more head turn would take it up.
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[Don Railton]

I think this is beautiful... I agree it would be nicer if the the lower beak was a little more obvious, maybe this could be done with a little local contrast enhancement. Love the BG , espc the fade into dark green. Maybe lifting the BG colour slightly might increase the area this fade has.. HA does not bother me as there is definate eye contact.

DON

[Ishmeet Sahni]

A lot already said about the lower mandible. Very well exposed.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and eye contact.

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent portrait. Very nice pose,details,lights and BG.

Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man, there is alot I would do to have anopportunity like that with this species!! Excellent details and techs, and love the dark BG. To bad about the lower mandible getting a bit lost in it, but some subtle and strategic dodge tooling along the bottom edge of it should do the trick. For me, yes, the head angle would have been great turned a bit more towards us. Still, fantastic image of this nervous bird!!

[Karl Egressy]

Great light, head turn and fantastic details.

[dankearl]

The beak has been mentioned. I would love this opportunity and you made the most of it.
A very fine portrait of this species.

[Peter Seidel]

Excellent capture. Those kingfishers are so skittish - it's an accomplishment to get a clean shot. I do like the head angle. The beak is a little dark, but all things considered that's pretty minor stuff. I also like the comp, though might add a little room on the right side.

Pete

[Richard Dubiel]

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions. Daniel, as you had mentioned, I performed a little dodging around the dark area on underside of its bill using a WACOM tablet I just picked up. Even after only a couple of hours practice, much easier painting with a pen & tablet. Also painted out the 2nd highlight in its eye (reflection of sun from water surface). Background is also a touch lighter. Edited image below.