Pied Pose

[Stu Bowie]

This Pied Kingfisher decided to show me how wide he could open his beak. Taken in the Pilanesberg National Park over december.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500 F4 ( borrowed )
1/2000
F/7.1
ISO 640

Exp comp 0
Hand held

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Hey Stu, you've captured an excellent pose. The light is fantastic and your exposure is spot on. Like the view of the tiny tongue.
I would blend in the lighter area below the perch.
IQ looks great - the 500 f4 suits you

[Diane Miller]

The open beak is stunning -- seems completely out of proportion to the body. They must be all stomach.

[Robert Holguin]

Wow Stu!!
This is spectacular.
Excellent pose. Love the wide open beak and view of the tongue.
Wonderful background, terrific comp, and excellent details.
Very well done.

[Dennis Zaebst]

Beautiful portrait of a stunning bird, Stuart. Very sharp, great BG, and terrific pose. I have never been outside of the U.S. (except on vacation travel or business without cameras), and I love seeing the species of birds around the world that I would not see otherwise.

BTW, the Smithsonian just reported a new species of owl that had been unknown previously. See here: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/scie...0217-Weekender. Cute little guy and an unusual "hoot" too.

[James Fuller]

Sweet Pose on the Kingfisher and I'm loving that background, nice punch of color to contrast with the black and white of the bird.

[David Salem]

Wow is right. Great pose with the open beak and the tongue showing. Exposure ,details,perch and that awesome varied BG make for a beautiful image. As Sidharth stated, that 500 suits you well Well done

[dankearl]

The background you have for your photo's are just superb!
Crack image, sharp, nice pose and the colors are terrific.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent pose and Exposure.very nice background.

[gail bisson]

This is really nice Stuart!
Love the light and the open beak and tongue.
Superb IQ as well.
BG is sooo nice and I like your comp with all the space on the left,
Gail

[jack williamson]

Outstanding IQ with a beautiful BG and comp!

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome Stu, superb image. The perch seems to have an open beak too :-)

[Dave Leroy]

A lovely photo Stuart. The warm earthy tones are really wonderful and provide an excellent contrast to black and white bird. Quality throughout.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

A really pleasing image, with lovely colors, open bill, sharp. Those 500s are awfully tempting

Cheers

Randy

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Stuart,

Wonderful image you captured! Wide open beak with tongue sticking out takes this image to a whole new level. Great exposure on the B&W.

Hope to see some more with the 500 in your hands!

Miguel

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the kind words.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the open beak, tongue, IQ, light, exposure and sweet BG. A real beauty Stuart!

[Shawn Zierman]

Background: Outrageously beautiful.
Composition: Perfect.
Subject animation: Surely one of the best animated pied kingfisher images I've seen. Love the toungue detail.
Really a cracking image in all regards.

[Melissa Groo]

A stunner, Stuart, worthy of all the praise. Wonderful pose, background, exposure and comp. A real treat for the eyes.

[Karl Egressy]

The wide open beak is amazing, Stuart. Love the perch, composition in excellent and the colourful background is striking. One of your best pied images I have seen so far.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image. Sharp and well composed.

[HadiAnsari]

This is really nice Stuart.I'm loving that background, nice punch of color to contrast with the black and white of the bird

[christopher galeski]

Excellent image Stuart,great exposure,nice BG,good pose,beautiful light,sharp,like theperch.well done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Stu, I like just about everything the composition pose and exposure excellent. If I was to be extra picky I would suggest the tip of the top mandible is just a tad soft. This bird looks a little different to me compared to other pied kingfishers, probably just me but I sense there is more black and the bill is a little longer???

Hey Stu, you are on one slippery slope now you have tried the 500mm, you are going to have to earn some serious points with the boss!!