Common Kingfisher Preening

[Ron E Racine]

A Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) preening on top of a fishing net. The fishing net was strung across one of the many canals that follow the rice paddies. Plaeng Yao, Chachoengsao, Thailand


Taken on January 16th, 2014 @ 5:30PM in Plaeng Yao, Chachoengsao, Thailand


All processing done in Lightroom 4.4
-Cropped to 3/5 original size
-WB Set to 6000 (between Daylight and Cloudy) the light was very soft and warm
-Exposure increased +0.83
-Blacks decreased -10
-Sharpness amount set to 40 with masking set to 45
-Luminance noise reduction set to 12
-All other settings default


Canon 7D, Canon 600mm L F4 IS II, Canon 1.4x Teleconverter Series III
Shot from my car using an Apex Low-profile Bean Bag and Wimberly II Gimbal
ISO 800, f5.6, 1/400
Manual Exposure mode


Thoughts and feedback appreciated.


Ron

[Marina Scarr]

Fun behavior with lovely details, colors and BG. It looks cramped on the bottom.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice preening pose. I wish for more room at the bottom.

[keith mitchell]

You have caught this bird in a very interesting pose ,the bird must have been relaxed with you and your camera, maybe a little sharpening needed on the lower part of the bird and I agree about more space at the bottom.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot fine detail a little more space at the base would be good.
( Your raw settings sharpness/luminance are similar to the ones I use when on ISO 400)

[Raymond Lee]

Beautiful capture! Nice colour and fantastic details! Love that preening pose. I agree with above that more room at the bottom would be nice. In addition, it would be nice that the nearest wing was more in focus.

[Ron E Racine]

Thanks everyone your comments and feedback are appreciated.

Here is another version with some more room at the bottom. Let me know if you think this is a sufficient amount.

Ron

[Diane Miller]

Yes, I love the added room at the bottom! There amount of negative space on the left isn't really contributing.

A stunning image, though -- beautiful pose and detail!

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image.

[vishaljadhav]

The repost with more space surely looks more beautiful
i like the colours and behaviour