Pied Take Off

[Stu Bowie]

I posted a take off image a little while back, and I had suggestions of either having more perch, or no perch. In this, Ive gone for more perch which does push the Pied Kingfisher more centrally, but I feel it does still work. Taken in the Pilanesberg Natonal Park. The BG is a distant OOF mountain.

1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 400mm
1/3200
F/6.3
ISO 800

Exp comp +0.67
Hand held

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice Stu, excellent pose and good details. if it's not too much cropping I'd go tighter on this one

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Just love the Mankwe BG on this one Stu, the bird pops so nicely. I would have prefered a tighter comp and a smaller perch though. Excellent pose and sharpness. TFS

[David Salem]

Great capture. Sharp and well exposed. Nice BG. I too would like to see a tighter crop. IQ looks good enough to handle it. Nice work on these Kingfishers.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I quite like it as presented Stu. :) What makes it work for me is the tonal separation between bird and BG. Nice pose!

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the bird's action and the perch goes along well, a moment well caught. If possible I would crop a little in order to reduce the large space at the bottom.
Stu, the whites look hot to me, given the background tone I doubt if I would have given extra exposure due to the whites being brighter - what do you think?

[gail bisson]

Lovely!
I love the BG. Good pose!
I would take a bit off the bottom but like it as is,
Gail

[Shawn Zierman]

Great image of this species. The subject isolation and background control (and color) are excellent.
You make this seem like routine stuff, though it's far from it. Exposure looks spot on. I'm wondering
if the perch was that dull (in regards to brightness) or did you tone it down a little here?
I like the use of space here, and the composition works as is imo.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I really like the amount of perch showing, but I'd crop a bit more left and bottom. Nice take off pose, warm tones, sharpness.

[Craig Brelsford]

The blacks and whites still please the eye, despite the bright light. Nice work there. I don't have a problem with the amount of perch you've displayed or the size of the perch, but the sharpness of the kingfisher contrasts with the softness of the perch. I'd sharpen the perch a bit.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the pose, sharpness and BG. I could see a tighter crop as well. Still a beauty as presented!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone. I will try a tighter crop.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very nice one Stu, I also like the light and believe you could crop a little tigher.

[Satish Ranadive]

Stuart Sir,
Very very sweet image.Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

[Frank Schauf]

Nice flight pose, good capture, Stuart.

[Ivan Ellison]

Nice shot, to freeze the moment of take off I find is esp hard.Exposure great and the colours look stunning.I too would just go a little tighter on the crop.