Giant in sweet light

[Stu Bowie]

This Female Giant kingfisher looks like she was perched nice and comfy on the recess of the perch. I positioned myself so that I had the distant mountain as a BG, and not a boring sky. The BG was as shot. Taken in the Pilanesberg National Park.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 360mm
1/1600
F/5.6
ISO 800

Exp Comp +0.67
hand held

[Jack Breakfast]

Stuart "I hate the sky" Bowie strikes back with a stunner of a kingfisher! This image has sweetness to spare and I thank you for sharing it!

[Amol Khedgikar]

Love this shot, the light is really sweet. Lovely color on stomach and I also like the white speckles. Nice sharpness, The pose is nice and the bird looks cozy.

The lower pointed part of the perch is a bit distracting, not too much. crop a little too tight for my me personally.

[Satish Ranadive]

Fabulous image with beautiful composition. Lovely color-scheme. Love the bird with great details, bg and perch .

[dankearl]

That is some nice light Stuart.
Perch and BG are first rate and the usual nice IQ you always have.

[Marc Mol]

Sweet indeed Stuart! Love the perch, BG & lighting.
TFS

[Frank Schauf]

Wow, beautiful portrait, great details and sharpness.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Oh yes I like this one Stu, the composition is excellent, I think initially I may have gone for a landscape but I think this portrait works very well indeed. As ever excellent exposure and detail.

[gail bisson]

Hi Stuart,
critiquing from the beautiful island of Saba in the Carribean! Internet very spotty and I have to lean out the window to get reception!
Really really love this beautiful image.
The best part is the composition you chose.Love the empty space below the perch.The light is indeed sweet and
I like how she is tucked into the beautifully textured perch.
The BG is great as well. A 10 out of 10 on this one from me,
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

One of your best overall shots. Colors, comp, BG, perch, bird, all work well together.

I could see a version with a sliver off the bottom, but it is special.

Cheers

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

Such a unique and beautiful composition, Stuart. The color of the bg is such a perfect compliment to your bird and her little perch is sweet. A memorable image, thanks for sharing it.

[Dan Busby]

A true winner Stuart, for all the reason already mentioned. Like the vertical crop and space below.

[Don Lacy]

Beautiful color and light , well done

[girisholeti]

Light, perch , BG everything perfect. Loved it.

[Charles Glatzer]

Wonderful image. I would only prefer the bird a bit lower in the frame.

Chas

[Richard Unsworth]

Amazing color, superb compo and that background is just perfect.
The bar is set higher each time...

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Amazing pose, IQ, light, bg and perch, Stu. You really have a killer collection of KF images.
I'd crop a bit from the bottom.

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the kind words. Always appreciated.

[Peter Seidel]

Terrific detail in the face and I like the way the bird is perched. The only change I might make is nitpicky - perhaps a little less room at the bottom - I think that can be cropped a bit more. Wouldn't make any changes to the main subject. Spot on.

Awesome.

Pete

[Dave Leroy]

Striking colors and pose, perch and bg make for a lovely photo. Interesting composition and nice to see something a bit different.

[Yves Guillot]

Warm sweet light and BG. congrats!

[Morkel Erasmus]

These guys were nowhere when I was there last month. Can see it's a winter BG - last year perhaps?
Gorgeous light and I like the portrait framing here...

[arash_hazeghi]

sweet shot, man I'm jealous of the KF shots

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Stuart, terrific job on the KF as always. loved the light and BG....main reason why this ootb comp is working so well, IMO.