Alcedo atthis - Common Kingfisher

[Filipe Caetano]

http://www.natugrafia.com/portal/index2.php?option=com_datsogallery&func=wmark&oid=2

Species(Tn/Eg/Pt) : Alcedo atthis - Common Kingfisher - Guarda Rios

Camera: NIKON D70
Shutter Speed: 1/250 seg
Aperture: f/8
Metering: Center-weighted Average
Flash: SB-800, -1 stop
Focal Distance: 450 mm
Lens: Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 EX APO HSM + Sigma 1.4x EX DG APO Tele Converter

This is my first post and I'm hoping that you'll like it. Anyway throw some critics or comments cause I am eager to learn more from you all.

My best regards,

Filipe Caetano.

[Glenda Simmons]

Wow! What a keeper! Very sharp. Great behavior shot. The only minus thing that catches my attention, is the bright tone of the bottom of the fish. Welcome, and look forward to seeing more posts from you.

[Colin Knight]

Well done! I would have opted for a wider aperture to get a faster shutter speed! What was your ISO? That said, you did a great job. Looks like plenty of sharpness and detail. Some may prefer a bit more room on the bottom, and I wish for a slightly better head angle.

[Filipe Caetano]

Wow! What a keeper! Very sharp. Great behavior shot. The only minus thing that catches my attention, is the bright tone of the bottom of the fish. Welcome, and look forward to seeing more posts from you.

Thank you Glenda. I know that the fish was not perfectly exposed, but is very difficult because it was wet and I had to blow some highlights to have an overall well exposed picture.

Best regards,

[Tim Munsey]

Very nice, some careful cloning can reduce the highlight impact easily enough.
Big fish, is there more, looks a mouthful.

Tim

[Filipe Caetano]

Well done! I would have opted for a wider aperture to get a faster shutter speed! What was your ISO? That said, you did a great job. Looks like plenty of sharpness and detail. Some may prefer a bit more room on the bottom, and I wish for a slightly better head angle.

Thank you Colin. My ISO was at 200, that is the lower option on D70. You're right about the composition but at the action I didn't pay attention to that and I have some sorrow regarding that aspect, as this has no crop at all. Regarding the head angle, my choice was exactly as it is, because if I had wait for a better head angle I probably would loose that angle showing the all fish.

Thank you both again for your kind words,

Best regards.

[Colin Knight]

Wow, full frame is a big bonus! Can you lighten the area about the eye at all? It might be nice to have some more seperation from the head.

[Filipe Caetano]

Very nice, some careful cloning can reduce the highlight impact easily enough.
Big fish, is there more, looks a mouthful.

Tim

Hello Tim

Thank you very much for your kind words. I know that some cloning would make for a nicer highlights, but I don't agree with that. Not doing that will make me feel that I need to do better next time in the field.

Best regards,

Filipe Caetano.

[Filipe Caetano]

Wow, full frame is a big bonus! Can you lighten the area about the eye at all? It might be nice to have some more seperation from the head.

Thank you Colin to point me in the right direction. As opposed to what I said to Tim regarding cloning, I don't see any harm done lighten the eye, allowing for some more separation from the head, as you well said.

Thank you again for the wise tip.

Best regards,

Filipe Caetano

[Michael Stern]

an EXCELLENT image!!! Very well done. Congrats!!!
Mike

[Filipe Caetano]

an EXCELLENT image!!! Very well done. Congrats!!!
Mike

Thank you for your kind words, Mike.

Regards,

Filipe Caetano

[Laura Stiefel]

Hi Filipe,

An excellent catch for both you and the bird! I am liking this as presented other than wishing for slightly more room at the top of the frame. The mottled background is a perfect contrast for this brightly colored bird, in my opinion.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Felipe,
Cogratulations on a stunning first post! I love it as presented, and good for you for prefering to get things right in the field as opposed to tidying up in PS :)
Best regards,
Nicki

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Filipe!! An overall nice first post for sure. Good exposure on the KF, and perfectly sharp as posted. I love the small tongue almost touching the fish! For me, I'd personally prefer a better head angle than a better view of the fish...and I would also clone in some colour to the overexposed ares of the fish as per Tim - but I do respect your personal ethics so leave it as is if you wish. I find the comp tight top-to-bottom...you have a zoom so you might as well take advantage of it's versatility;)

All in all a great start for you here, and I'm looking forward to more!!

[Troy Lim]

Filipe, great first post.
Love the shot. Better HA would have been even better but getting a shot of a KF is not easy enough.

[Bill Jobes]

I think it's a stunning photograph, Filipe ! Welcome to the BPN community!

I fully agree that it's best to expose for the bird, first.

However I would use some selective highlight adjustment to mute the bright lower fish. I would retain the glisten, as that's part of the scene, but just reduce the glare slightly so it doesn't beg for attention. :)

[Kiran Poonacha]

Out pointed out.. Nice colours and sharpness here...

[Conrad Tan]

Nothing common about this image! Well done!

[Filipe Caetano]

Thank you all for your kind words, and for the effort in trying to help a newcomer with some great tips.

Best regards,

Filipe Caetano.

[Harshad Barve]

Big welcome to BPN and great image to start with
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

exposure wise you did best, depending on camera model, sometimes sensor DR just doesn't allow having the brightest highlights and darkest blacks at the same time. here the fish was wet, directly reflecting sunlight like a mirror and the KF eye was pitch dark, your goal was to get the KF so your exposure is correct even though parts of fish are blown. keeping in mind this was an equipment limitation I would clone the highlights with no shame.

head towards you would have been an improvement but most likely not possible.

TFS, and welcome to BPN.

[Filipe Caetano]

Thanks for such good tips on this image.

Best regards,

Filipe Caetano