Common Kingfisher

[Gary Kinard]

I caught this guy at the edge of a Mangrove grove. So background very dark.
I took your advice and gave it some breathing room, also tried to watch my sharpening.
De-noise in PS5 raw. Not much PS, sharpened some.
7D, ISO 800, 1/200 500 + 1.4 F7.1
What else would help this pic?

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gary, a typical KF pose, and the colours pop nicely from the darker BG. Having said that, I would still tone them down a touch, as they do seem a bit bright. With regards to the sharpening, a bit of selective sharpening, especially over the head will help to take this to another level.

[Gary Kinard]

Thanks Stuart. I will try, thanks for the help.

[Doug Brown]

Like the pose, sharpness, and dark BG (which really sets the bird off nicely). While you handled the light very well overall, you're still a little bright on the bird's back. I'd also consider boosting image contrast a bit.

[Marina Scarr]

Very nice looking bird and pose. Looks as though you focused on the kingfisher's body rather than his head. I would sharpen the head a bit more.

[Gary Kinard]

Thanks for the tips Doug, Marina.
Yes I hit his body. I was driving down the road here when I saw him. I had to lean over and turn on IS and adjust camera and shoot out the passenger window. This was the best one of the bunch. I saw the head was out of focus.
My head is spinning thinking about it. LOL Really should be a photo showing the Canon IS system.. :)

[Karl Egressy]

It is hard to say what would be the best as I have never seen this bird in real life. However, it seems that you can use some linear burn to darken some areas selectively.
Otherwise iot is an excellent shot of a very nice bird.

[Gary Kinard]

Thanks Karl. The body is as sharp as you can get. Every time i shoot the 7D I am amazed at the detail it produces. Quite amazing.
The head is a little light but not bad.
I don't understand your comment about linear burn? What is that? I am here because I want to learn some PS techniques.
Thanks