Belted Kingfisher

This bird flew toward me on its way to a favorite tree to perch but veered away when it unexpectedly caught sight of me. The IQ suffers some from a large crop, but I like the wing, tail and head position. This was shot HH in evening light - 6.28pm. NR to BG, contrast, levels and sharpening on bird.

Canon 7D, Canon 300mm & 1.4TC, f/8.0, 1/1600, ISO 500

C & C Welcome

For a big crop it's wonderful!! What a great pose and wonderful tonalities! I love the subtle BG with colors harmonious to the bird.

My only suggestion would be to hang out at this spot often! TFS!

I am so jealous. These guys are so hard to get at all and the pose here is perfect. Focus on the eye is great and, although we would all love to get an image we don't have to crop, you did a great job with this one. I agree with Diane - hang out there often!

Yes! Such shy birds and hard to get. Your f/8 appears perfect for the detail you captured. I would like one like this!

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I've been trying for several years now to get a decent, or any shot of a Belted Kingfisher. Today I thought the opportunity fell into my lap as I was on a wharf in the Harbor with my new to me Canon 500mm/4 IS, when I caught site of our resident Kingfisher as he did a quick sweep of the area, then turned and started right toward me, checked me out I'm sure, then made his quick exit to a place a lot farther down the Harbor...opportunity lost number ???
Guess I have to hide a lot better or be a heck of a lot faster.. Great shot BTW
I live in Bass Harbor on Mt.Desert Island Maine.
I love this forum. Thanks,
Lynn

Hi Lynn, and welcome to BPN! You'll find this is a great place to learn.

A Kingfisher is fast and elusive. Practice on easier birds and keep trying for the harder ones. I've found that the more I practice the better my camera gets! (And the more I read here the more I learn.)

Look forward to seeing some of your images!

Thanks, All, for taking the time to look and comment.

It may be a big crop, but it's a difficult shot and I thought it was pretty cool. I smoothed out the bg a bit using NR, lightened it up a bit using shadow highlight, and smoothed out the facial feathers where it appeared to be oversharpened. I did this using very light NR. I hope you like the changes I made. Cool image!

Thanks, Jim, I do like your changes. Interesting use of NR, and lightening the bird did improve the image. Thanks for the pointers.