Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

[Harshad Barve]

Dear all
could not resist myself and posting another ODKF :)
I am vary happy today . Finally after delay of more than 45 days Monsoon is raining here :):)

Made with D300, 600mm, ISO 160, F5.6 at 1/25 of secs, Tripod mounted
all C & C welcome & much appreciated
Harshad

[Stu Bowie]

This is most colourful kingfisher I have seen. Super pose, and like the slight look back. The KF is nice and sharp, and although I have never seen this species, the colours do not look over saturated. Great capture Harshad.

[Phil Ertel]

What a lovely bird. I agree with Stuart. The pose, details, and colors all look good to me. Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

nice looking bird with beautiful pose,colors and bg!!!

[chris mayne]

You should be very proud of this image, Harshad. Fine detail of a beautiful subject.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Stunning KF!
Love the colors and the clean BG. Congrats.

[Arthur Morris]

Harshad-bhai,

When I checked out the additional images on your web site, this was my favorite. Can you tell us about the situation please.

Is the shutter speed of 1/25 sec. correct? Did you use flash?

Why is the monsoon good?

[Harshad Barve]

Harshad-bhai,

When I checked out the additional images on your web site, this was my favorite. Can you tell us about the situation please.

This fellow sits on a top of a mountain , in a busy lantanas , I sit there for whole day , in all I made 3 trips in 7 days. Location is 390 Kms from my home and I treked nearly 5000fts of height with 22kg kit on my back. Very shy bird and awesome in speed , I could not catch his take off at 1/500 with 3200 ISO , Lighting was bad as we have rainly season. But you can shoot them in rainy seasons only. Storm cover for kit and Umbrella for me. But all these efforts paid off. I have nearly 300 keepers of this. We in India call him Jewel of Jungle


Is the shutter speed of 1/25 sec. correct? Did you use flash?

No Flash Guruji , rather I dont have Fill Flash in my kit , EXIF is intact and shows NO FLASH. I have personal law for me , not to use flash on wild life , may sound stupid , but would love to obey rules. Tripod was used , some got blurred and few were sharp


Why is the monsoon good?

Monsoon brings rains , means water , life , green tops , hope for million farmers to survive ( I am also a Farmer part time , My father takes care of it ). Most of our farms are non-irrigated and we have to relay on Monsoons
Monsoon starts at 1st week of July , But rain God tested our patience this year. Country whose 70% population is of farmers , Monsoon means a lot. In shaky economy bad Monsoon would be a big blow. But now its raining and raining heavily here , So , I am vey happy ( This may sound like a emotional fool , but I am


Thanks a ton for visiting my website , I hope it will look good after some time as my collection grows

Harshad

[Kiran Poonacha]

Very Beautiful Harshad Bhai, you have made use of the situation well, I like This for the same reason as I liked the rest.. Big Congrats...

PS: I am not bored of seeing these beauties..

[David Fletcher]

Outstanding shot Harshad. Thanks for sharing this beauty and for the effort you put in.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Beautiful bird, the colors are amazing, good eye contact, sharpness and exposure control. I might give it a tad more room right and bottom and there are some artifacts in the BG, maybe from cloning or jpg compression. I might also lighten the eye a bit.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Thank you for the extra info.

[Harshad Barve]

Thanks Axel , I think it is due to JPEG compression , no cloning
will post with some added space at bottom soon

[Steve Canuel]

A very appropriate nickname for this beautiful bird. I can imagine how well he would stand out in the jungle canopy. Excellent pose, colors, and detail. And I'm glad to hear the monsoon has arrived for you. Hopefully not too much rain too quickly.

[Dr.Pranay Rao Juvvadi]

Great series of this jewel, that's all i can say.

[Gal Shon]

Thank you for sharing and for the info.
It's a real gem... wonderful image and a great effort. 1/25... very well done
I would love to see an horizontal version.

[denise ippolito]

Harshad, Another beauty! Great exposure and colors!! I love the eye contact!Well worth the hike!!!

[Indranil Sircar]

Harshad, this is also my favorite in the series. Very little to add other than say outstanding work.

[Art Kornienko]

Most enjoyable background story. Your principles are high as is your respect for nature, you are to be congratulated for your excellent work and ethics.

[susanschermer]

Wonderful reporting, Harshad. I admire your strength and tenacity and respect for nature. Congratulations. I've enjoyed your tiger images also. I visited Bandhavgarh in March. It was quite wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Tracy]

Wonderful image of a beautiful bird. Multiple catch lights are sort of distracting. Interesting story as well.

[Arlon Motsch]

What a beauty. Nothing even close to that colorful where I live.

Love seeing the 1/25 sec. Makes the capture even more amazing. I used flash when I first got a long lens but have since gone to natural light only. I don't know how many birds I blinded early on but not now at least..

[Glenda Simmons]

A stunning image! Congratulations!

[Krijn Trimbos]

Fabulous shot! Everything looks spot on. Love the colours, the HT, the BG and the catchlight. Big time congrats!!

[Arthur Morris]

Harshad-bhai,

re:

When I checked out the additional images on your web site, this was my favorite. Can you tell us about the situation please.

This fellow sits on a top of a mountain , in a busy lantanas , I sit there for whole day , in all I made 3 trips in 7 days. Location is 390 Kms from my home and I treked nearly 5000fts of height with 22kg kit on my back. Very shy bird and awesome in speed , I could not catch his take off at 1/500 with 3200 ISO , Lighting was bad as we have rainly season. But you can shoot them in rainy seasons only. Storm cover for kit and Umbrella for me. But all these efforts paid off. I have nearly 300 keepers of this. We in India call him Jewel of Jungle.

Only 300? Was the bird coming to a fishing perch? Were you in a blind? At least you got some good exercise on the way up and down.

Is the shutter speed of 1/25 sec. correct?

You missed the question above (I think): was 1/25 sec. the correct shutter speed?

Did you use flash?

No Flash Guruji , rather I dont have Fill Flash in my kit , EXIF is intact and shows NO FLASH. I have personal law for me , not to use flash on wild life , may sound stupid , but would love to obey rules.

I can understand obeying the rules in the preserves but it seems that you have a personal rule never to use flash. Is that correct?


Tripod was used , some got blurred and few were sharp


Why is the monsoon good?

Monsoon brings rains , means water , life , green tops , hope for million farmers to survive ( I am also a Farmer part time , My father takes care of it ). Most of our farms are non-irrigated and we have to relay on Monsoons
Monsoon starts at 1st week of July , But rain God tested our patience this year. Country whose 70% population is of farmers , Monsoon means a lot. In shaky economy bad Monsoon would be a big blow. But now its raining and raining heavily here , So , I am vey happy ( This may sound like a emotional fool , but I am.

Happy is good but it is also a choice. I am happy every day with every breath. (I understand that that is very Bhuddist.)

Thanks a ton for visiting my website , I hope it will look good after some time as my collection grows.

It looked pretty good when I visited and I am sure that it will get better as you continue to climb many mountains both literally and figuratively.