Perched Pied and take off.

[Stu Bowie]

This is one of the images I managed in the Pilanesberg nature reserve, when I took Tony ( Whitehead ) Pity the perched pied kingfisher was looking away, but managed to time the take off. The light wasnt great that day, so Im happy I managed some ss.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/3200
F/5.6
ISO 640

Exp Comp 0
Hand held

[Doug Brown]

I like that you got both birds in your plane of focus. As you mentioned, eye contact with the bird on the left could be better. Even though there's a catchlight in the bird on the right, I wish the area around the eye were better lit. Looks like you could have pushed your exposure a little more to the right. Like the compo too.

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice dive pose, agree with Doug's comments.

[Dave Leroy]

Both birds are nice and sharp, and especially nice details in the far wing.
Two birds shots always seem tough and more so when there is some action.
This is nicely done.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

You did well in getting this one considering the conditions Stu! Haven'nt seen any of Tony's shots yet?

PK's were all in attendance yesterday & put up quite a show around the hide.:)

[denise ippolito]

Stuart, Nice to get both in the frame. I like the composition with the one perched and the other on the move. BG is lovely.

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Stuart,
Really like the BG and the perch. As you mentioned, it would've been nice to have a better angle on the perched one but these are nice looking birds and the diving one has catchlight, an open beak, and nice wing positions.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for your comments and feedback guys and Denise.

[Tony Whitehead]

Nice to have 2 in one frame Stuart. Hoping to get a gap tomorrow to post something from the day. Have had a week back at work after the chaos of our trip - hoping things will settle back to normal by next weekend!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack Tony. Looking forward to yours too.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thunderstorm has passed. With all the rain we're having I think it is time to start building an Ark!:) Stu, you guys in Avian are very particular about angles. I can see nothing wrong with the angle. Great image, timing and both birds with sharp detail. Such a beautiful bg as well.:)

[Harshad Barve]

Stuartbhai , late here but one image I would love to have in my files
TFS