Belted Kingfisher

[John Whaley]

I have been trying to capture a Kingfisher for months and while I have 100s of okay images of them usually they are too far away or something else was not working. For me they are really shy and seem to always stay 100+' away. I managed to find this one yesterday morning on Assateague Island. He let me get closer than I am accustomed to while he soaked up the warm early morning sun. Small crop, basic LR adjustments and darkened the perch a bit.
1/1600, f8, auto ISO-400, +.03 step, 700mm, 500 f4E FL + 1.4III, D500.

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[Mike Hitchen]

A nice picture John. Those belted kingfishers at somewhat skittish I have found,more so than our native UK ones.
Have you tried lightening the head, especially round the eye? I think it will only need a little - too much will look strange but you may be able to bring out a little more detail round the eye.

[John Whaley]

Thanks for the feedback Mike. I lightened around the eye a bit and I think it is an improvement.

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[Mike Hitchen]

I agree.
I read one of Daniel Cadieux posts on his processing and he said he always sharpens the eyes and it works for me. I use mainly Lightroom and use the edit brush on the edge of the eye and'or the iris (if you can see it) to play around with the lighting and the sharpness around the eye and it is surprising how even small changes can have a beneficial effect (thanks, Dan).

[Stu Bowie]

Hi John, lovely angled pose, and I like simplicity of the image with the KF perched quietly on the perch. The smaller second catchlight is a touch prominent, so I would eliminate it, and comp wise, I would maybe take a bit off the bottom.

[John Whaley]

Thanks for the feedback Stu.
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