Belted Kingfisher

[Richard Unsworth]

:S3: Captured in his wire perch in exactly the same position as two years previous! maybe even the same bird I saw then lol Just a short walk to the jetty in Puerto Jimenez Osa CR, spotted while studying the Scarlet Macaws close by - love it OK the HA is not perfect and she is a little elevated (its a female I think) but I like it and hope you do to PP DPP for raw Nik CEPro, PS Topaz NR 7D 100-400 1/3200 F5.6 iso 800, eV +1.66 <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Ryan Schain]

I like the colors on the bird. The back feathers look slightly oversharpened on my monitor, but the head looks fine. The perch is what it is, and the head angle isn't ideal (with a lower angle altogether and a head turn more towards you making a stronger image).

[Richard Unsworth]

:S3:

Hi Ryan

Ah now you see, the ones with the perfect HA are destined for a secret project:2eyes2:, always appreciate your comments, and any elses of course; this one I posted asd I liked the beak
and she was pretty close so not a large crop - will check the Sharpening<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Stan Cunningham]

Looks oversharpened to me as well.

[Richard Unsworth]

<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input jscode="leoInternalChangeDone()" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setT imeout('jsCall()',500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">Fair comment guys; I dont normally hit the jpeg with SS but did so...
reprocessed more gently, thx

[Bill Dix]

Hi Richard. I'm thinking she may be a Ringed Kingfisher, because of the extent of the rufous underparts and that whopping bill, although I'm no expert on tropical birds. In any event, your self-critique is spot-on regarding the steep angle. Great to get that close and get so much detail. Ditto above re. the HA and sharpening. [Edit: your repost came at the same time as my post. Repost is an improvement; I like the bird smaller in the frame per the repost.]

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Bill
You sir are coirrect it is indeed Ringed, about 3 inches bigger than the belted lol. I have to admit to being embarassed there lol; I dont normally get my tropical Id s wrong!
Shes surely a big chunky bird; thanks very much for chiming in


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[Arthur Morris]

Though I like the repost much better image quality there seems to be somewhat lacking. And I am pretty sure that there is a slightly more pleasing crop. Be right back.

[Arthur Morris]

This crop from the repost is quite a bit wider than the original post.

[Arthur Morris]

Richard, Can you please post a JPEG that represents the full frame original RAW image without any processing?

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Arthur

Yes a better crop; my repost was a rework as I had not saved an intermediary tiff file so went back to raw; then Topaz crashed so NR was done in PS5 so that might have affected IQ
I am not up to speed with NIK, its impressive thats for sure, but its also easy to get it wrong.As ever your input is highly appreciated
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[Arthur Morris]

Hi Arthur, Yes a better crop; my repost was a rework as I had not saved an intermediary tiff file so went back to raw; then Topaz crashed so NR was done in PS5 so that might have affected IQ. I am not up to speed with NIK, its impressive thats for sure, but its also easy to get it wrong.As ever your input is highly appreciated
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YAW. When you have a chance, post the full frame image with no processing :).

[Richard Unsworth]

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[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Richard. Image quality will always suffer with such a large crop. Exposure good and a great bird.

[Richard Unsworth]

True Arthur thanks once again, they are great birds indeed!
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[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Richard, agree with Artie that it is a big crop and hence salvaging it becomes tough. We tend to overdo the processing on such files. That is the feeling I get from the OP. It might be better to go easy on the crop a bit and then try to do the best processing.

Nice bird indeed. Exposure looks good. you could have used lower ISO and stopped down a bit to get better IQ in the base image. Then, it would have held up better after cropping....although, I would not suggest such a big crop.

[Richard Unsworth]

Thanks Kaustubh good advice indeed, thank you for your post:S3:
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