Pied Kingfisher

[Kirsten Frost]

A Pied Kingfisher flies towards its nest along the banks of the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve in Cape Town, South Africa.

Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Date/Time: 2008:07:20 08:44:53
Shutter speed: 1/2500 sec
Aperture: 6.3
Exposure mode: Av
Exposure compensation: +1/3
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Lens: 400mm F5.6
Focal length: 400mm

[Ramon M. Casares]

Just outstanding, the pose, the eye contact, the sharpnes and compostion, exp looks good, I just wish the right wing to be a bit more in focus. Congratulations!

[Juan Aragonés]

Outstanding capture. The sharpness is fantastic and the exposure very good but the wing pose and eye contact are the ice on the cake. Very good. Considering that this is a, mostly, black and white bird I suggest to work on the levels of the BG for a darker sky in order to increase the contrast of the bird against the sky. I think that the sky is very light here. I reworked the eye and some areas on the plumage to add more light. Please, let me have your thoughs about my suggestions. Big congratulatinos for such a fine image.

[Arthur Morris]

I absolutely love both the ORIG and the repost. The image is spectacular. Love the wings in the full and total downstroke position but the raised rump posture puts this one over the top for me; I have never seen that posture before... Congrats. You are one fine photographer...

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very cool pose, details and eye contact. Both versions work very well. Thanks for sharing!

[Fabs Forns]

This is one fine image, a pleasure to look at in every respect. Thanks for sharing it!

[Maxis Gamez]

Oh.... this is amazing!! Re-post works very well. Excellent work!

[Tony Whitehead]

This is just stunning Kirsten - pose, light, action and one of my favourite Kingfishers too!

[Ken Watkins]

This is a remarkably good picture, how close were you?

[c.w. moynihan]

Stunning KF flight shot !

[Glenn Bartley]

Exceptional image! The position and sharpness are just fantastic.

[Geurt Bloem]

Oh well done here young man!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Holy cow Kirsten! This image is a cut above many I have seen. Such well-frozen moment in time. So much detail. I cannot find any problems for my taste. :)

[Kirsten Frost]

Thanks for the good feedback guys :)
I like the slight changes you've made Juan. Works very well, thanks for posting. I didn't want to disturb the birds nesting activity so sat down, through some camo over the tripod legs and waited at a perch close-by. The bird was about 5m away.