Hovering Pied Kingfisher

[Stu Bowie]

Its not often we get to capture these guys at a close range, as they are mostly hovering over vast expanses of water fairly far away. What we did here was to throw a few bits of food into the water hoping the fish would bite, and thus him diving for a fish. No luck, but second prize was a closer shot of a hover. Taken at the Pilanesberg nature reserve last year April.

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

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held.

[Doug Brown]

Nice pose, great sharpness, and I like the placement of the bird high in the frame. The cloud adds to the image. I might go a little brighter on the bird.

[Bill Dix]

Amazing to get him that close, and that sharp. Great open beak and down-wing position.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Beautiful work as always Stuart. Love the flight pose and the excellent detail. The clouds add to this lovely image !!!

[denise ippolito]

Wonderful sharp details and not an easy bird to capture. Great job Stuart!!

[Michael Zajac]

Good sharpness and pose.I like the BG. Well done.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Eye contact and sharpness look very good, I wish the Kingfishers around here were that cooperative. :) Did you use flash? I'm wondering about the catchlight. I might give it a bit more room at the top.

[Stu Bowie]

Eye contact and sharpness look very good, I wish the Kingfishers around here were that cooperative. :) Did you use flash? I'm wondering about the catchlight. I might give it a bit more room at the top.
Thank you Axel. No flash was used, but I did try and lighten the eye, as the light was from the wrong angle.

Thanks to everyone else for the great feedback and comments.

[James Salywoda]

Excellent image Stuart great pose and sharpness really well done.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Stuart,
Our kingfishers are definitely not that cooperative!!! Love the pose and might explore Doug's recommendation on lightening the bird......Outstanding job on this one!

[Arno Ellmer]

Good one Stu,with good wing position and catchlight in eye a bonus !

[Nico Steenberg]

Well done getting him this sharp Stu. IMG is well exposed with great sharpness and composition. And you got the eye. Well done !

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice wing positions Staurt, nice exposure and details TFS

[Gal Shon]

Love the pose and the cloud. very good sharpness.
I would brighten the eye a bit.

[Sid Garige]

killer job with 100-400mm. Excellent details.

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent sharp details Stuartbhai , these KF I need to get
TFS

[Kiran Poonacha]

Very beautifully done..

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the great feedback and comments. Much appreciated.