White-Throated Kingfisher

[susanschermer]

Trip to India was very productive. This one from Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary on the way to Agra.
Mark 3, focal length 560mm, ISO800, f/4, 1/800 hand-held.

[Doug Brown]

Hi Susan. Good looking bird! I would probably sharpen it a little more. I like the inclusion of habitat up top but I'd be tempted to clone out the stick. Speaking of clone work, there appears to be some smudging around the perch. How did you get 560mm at f/4? Was it the 400 f/2.8? If so, that's a pretty big lens to hand hold and I'm duly impressed!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

You certainly were fortunate to see some beautiful birds on your recent trip to India and this is no exception. I would like to see just a tad more room on the right but very beautiful as presented. Congratulations.

[susanschermer]

Hi Doug and Judy,
A bigger crop is no problem.
The smudging is due to blurring the BG and cloning out some extraneous sticks. I was rather hasty in pp.
The 560 is the 400 DO plus a 1.4tc. Not so heavy. I was wrong about the f/4. It was f 5.6. Makes more sense, no?

[Randy Stout]

Susan:

A lovely bird. I thought the reds and whites might be a bit hot, so downloaded and checked in NX2, and both the beak, and the white feathers are a bit toasted. Was easily able to recover them with highlight protection. It is such a pretty image, that I think it is worth the extra tuning!

Keep these beauties coming!!

Randy