Another Pied

[Stu Bowie]

This was captured the same day that I took Tony and his daughter Edin up to Pilanesberg National Park at the end of June. Both Pied's and Malachite kingfishers were busy, and here is one from the day. I wished for him to be facing the opposite way, but will take it anyway.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 330mm
1/2500
F/6.3
ISO 500

Exp Comp 0
Hand held

[Jack Breakfast]

You are the king of the kingfishers! The light, the detail in the blacks and the whites, the color, the background, even the perch...all these things are oh-so-lovely. I like this composition very much, Stuart...something quite different from the norm. Nice to add to your collection, I would say. Very well done. I imagine it's quite thrilling to be so close to so magnificent a bird! I say this b/c the belted kingfishers we have here are more than tricky to approach...

[David Salem]

Very nice Stuart,

Exposure is perfect and the detail is awesome. Man you got close! Gradient BG is great too. I also wish the bird was facing the other way but we take what we can get... Good Job...

David

[Frank Schauf]

Perfect in every way, Stuart.

[Simon Wantling]

Fantastic image Stuart. I really like the background colours against the bird. Wonderful..

[Richard Unsworth]

Top shot Stuart - I reckon you are a Kingfisher trainer :-)

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Your KF is great, sharp, well exposed, and a really handsome bird! I appreciate the pose comment, and the fact that the DOF wasn't able to keep the perch in focus near the bill is a bit distracting. If he was turned the other way, you would probably never notice that issue.

Now if I can just train our belted Kingfishers to do this!

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Very nice picture, Stuart. Perfect exposure, nice details and background.

[Bill Dix]

A wonderful shot, with perfect exposure, sharpness, bg. Having the bird turned this way makes it a little different, with the bird parallel to the perch and nicely composed. I like it.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Great exposure with both the black and whites. The warm background really help the kingfisher 'pop'!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback and comments guys.

Yes, Im fortunate to photograph these guys in the wild and have some perches fairly close. Our Giant Kingfisher which may be similar to your belted KF, is not easy to get a close shot. They always seem to perch further away.

[Sachin Saraf]

This is amazingly beautiful capture Stu, Excellent HA, exposure, IQ and BG...you have some really nice images of this species in your profile.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Like the comp. & lovely BG. Perfect HA. TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very nice, neat perch and a fantastic BG. I have to admit I'm not super crazy about the blocked shadows on the underside of the perch, but all else is a perfect 10 from me :-)

[Marina Scarr]

Stunning bird with spot on EXP and plenty of details. I also like all the details in the perch.

[Peter Seidel]

Pretty sweet. The branch is probably more prominent than you would have chosen, but that is some fantastic detail - more than enough to overcome the branch. Exposure seems to be spot on as well.

Pete

[Satish Ranadive]

Extremely beautiful composition.As usual great light and absolutely superb details.
Love the handsome bird.

Regards,
Satish.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the exposure, sharpness, details and BG. Well done Stuart.

[Tony Whitehead]

I think I recognise this bird, Stu! Lovely BG. Agree on the comments about the perch. Great memory of the day.