Striped Kingfisher 2

[Ken Watkins]

Taken in Mapula Concession. Northern Botswana, 18th March 2009

EOS 1D MkIII


500mm F4 IS Hand-held

F9. 1/2000, ISO1250, ev+1/3rd

Yes the sky was blue

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Beautiful capture Ken with lovely lighting and excellent detail. The angle is a little steep and I wondering if it had been possible to move back a tad. Lovely composition and a nice clean BG. Many thanks for sharing.

[Ken Watkins]

The steep angle arose from the bird being so high in the tree. If I had moved back it would have neccessitated a far larger crop, which would probably have resulted in a far worse quality capture.
It is quite rare to see this bird sitting in such an open position.

[Dave Barnes]

HI Ken. I like the feather detail and colour looks spot on. I am not mad about the comp, I would have preferred it a bit tighter. Good eye contact with nice catchlight. I would also look to darken the hot spots on the bill just a tad.
What time of day was this captured.

[Phil Ertel]

I like the diagonal line the perch introduces. Details are very nice. To me it looks like the light might have been just a bit harsh however, it looks like you did well with the exposure.

[Ken Watkins]

Dave/Phil

This was captured at 07.36, on what was obviously a relatively sunny day. I will have a look at the hotspots and perhaps try a tighter crop, but this is allready about 10% of full frame.