My food

[Stu Bowie]

A Pied Kingfisher showing me his food. Notice on the perch, the fish scales from the battering these guys give the fish to soften them up before swallowing. Taken from the Mankwe hide in the Pilanesberg nature reserve.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 500

Exp Comp 0
Hand held

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Amazing that this little guy can swallow that fish! When I saw the thumbnail, I thought he was smoking a big black cigar.
Sharp with neutral background, might add a sliver of room above.

Might consider trying to slightly increase the luminosity of the fish so it stands out a bit more from the dark bill. I suspect the photo shows how it really looked, but it might present better with a bit more tonal separation.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Randy, thanks for your feedback. Funnily enough, I actually took a bit off the top, and LHS before posting, as I thought there was too much space. I did also try and expose the fish a little better, as I agree, it does seem hidden in the beak. I will have another go a little later.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Stuart,
Excelllent capture and besides the tweaks recommended by Randy (except room:D)....might lighten the eye a touch.....just for added final pop. This is just a fantastic moment captured and the fish scales do add to the story for me!

[James Salywoda]

Excellent Shot! I really like the nice clean shot captured Stuart the bg really makes this Kingfisher pop off the screen.

[Morkel Erasmus]

crackling sharp Stu...lovely detail...how close does one get to them here?
I agree on lightening the eye slightly

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback. Here is my repost from a few suggestions. Increased the exposure on the fish, and added a little to the top.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Stuart, liked the repost more. Killer IQ in this one. pure WOW effect. loved the exposure a lot.

[Fabs Forns]

Excellent repost of a greatly ambitious little bird. Great HS, can BG that compliments the bird sand good detail in the plumage.

[Markus Jais]

Repost is even better. Great shot. The prey is wonderful as is the HA and the BG.

Markus

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all for the kind words and feedback. It is always appreciated.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nice done this Bhai.. liked the repost..

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you Kiranbhai

[Hendri Venter]

The repost rocks Stu. You captured outstanding detail and nailed the exposure.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack Hendri.