Watch out baby....here i come...

[Jeroen Stel]

It's time for the third nesting round at my Kingfisher site and despite the fact that they are still feeding the chicks of the second brood they have started mating and digging the nesting hole for the third.

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Canon Eos 1DX
Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
Aperture: F 4.5
Exposure mode: M
Exposure compensation: -1 2/3
Flash:No
Flash exposure compensation:
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: AI Servo (in AF-On modus)
ISO: 800
Lens: Canon 600mm F4
Focal length:600 mm
AF mode: Auto Focus
On tripod from hide
Levels/Curves/USM/Contrast/Saturation/Noise Ninja/Home stewed Sharpening-mix/ Adobe Photoshop CS6

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jeroen, lovely comp and the slow SS has created a great wing beat to compliment the behavioural aspect of the shot, doesn't get much better. Good clarity & sharpness where it counts, cool image. I wonder if you could just add say +12 -16 Magenta & say +7 of Black in the yellow channel, just brings that 'rusty' body colour up a tad in richness?

Trust you are enjoying the 1DX. http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/smileys/icon_toast.gif http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/smileys/icon_toast.gif

TFS
Steve :wave:

[Alan Murphy]

Great behavior here. Wish for more DOf and sharpness.

[Marina Scarr]

This image is such an eye catcher!!! Love the movement in the wings and the positioning of the birds. Colors are great, as is the BG. The DOF works for me, but more DOF would have worked for the back bird. Overall, this is killer!

[adrian dancy]

Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in capturing fast action in poor light. In some ways it is the sacrifices and flaws in an image that can make it more becoming by bringing out the almost sacred quality and intimacy which may otherwise have been lost in a technically perfect capture. Once sight of that is lost you become a technician and not a photographer. I think this image is wonderful.

[Troy Lim]

Amazing, I can see this winning lots of competitions :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Killer interaction, nice colors. I also like the BG. I like the wing blur that intensifies the action, but I did wish for more dof. with the 1DX I would not hesitate to push the ISO to 3200 in this situation and gain two stops of dof.



very well done, it's a great shot overall

[vishaljadhav]

Wow image, the wing blur makes the action more interesting
lovely looking BG, wish for a 6.3 or a 7.1 to make this a absolute stunner
like it as presented, very rare to achieve a image like this and i will love to have one in my files

[Loi Nguyen]

King fisher are tiny birds and I would have been delighted to get one any day. You had two in the most wonderful behavior shot in a killer BG. Love the blur wing here and the sharpness where it counts. Loi

[Girish Prahalad]

lovely interaction! like the effect the low SS has created. sharp where it needs to be & the BG is excellent.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Amazing behavioral shot, sublime colours, and I love the wing blur:S3:

Kind regards,