I got some comments on my other post about the perch appearing to be hand cut. While I do have my doubts about that, I had actually already put out a new perch that I found down by the Mississippi River. It's no Alan Murphy level pretty, but I tried to find one that would be easy to eat fish on (which hasn't worked yet). She shied away from the perch the first time she saw it, but the next day she flew right to it and hasn't used her old favorite since. This shot was about 8 minutes after sunrise. There is a slight magenta cast because the sunrise lit up some clouds pink as it rose and the pink clouds reflected off the lake onto the bird. Slight crop for comp, USM to bird and perch, NR to BG. As everyone already knows, the detail is fantastic at these high ISO's with these top level cameras, but there is a definite lack in dynamic range as the ISO increases. This was shot with me lying on the ground in a natural blind of tall grass, full camo, fake grass over lens and camera, camo netting over me, and some fake grass covering me as well, lowered tripod, wimberley head locked down, using quiet mode single shot. All C&C welcome.
Techs:
D3S
700mm
ISO 3200
f/5.6
1/20
PS: I love these front facing shots because you can really see those tiny, dainty feet. It seems to mismatch the ultra-ego and bad attitude I have attributed to these birds through watching them hunt and their mannerisms.
Really admire your perseverance, Lyle. This guy can't be easy to get. Your custom blind and camo sound very interesting and effective.
Not sure if it's motion blur or some post processing glitch, but there isn't a lot of fine detail on the bird.
There is what appears to be a clone mark at the base of the perch on the right and a halo above the beak.
TFS and looking forward to more.
I agree there could be slightly more detail overall, but I can see the reflection of the clouds in the bird's eye, the scales on the feet, and individual feathers--so I'm fine with the detail especially at ISO 3200. I haven't cloned anything out of the shot, and that is a natural rim light around the beak which is present in a lot of kingfisher shots.
Once the color cast is explained, I think the pink cast makes this quite interesting. Nice clean shot of the KF and I really like the BG.
1/20 sec is probably the reason the image is sharp but not "tack sharp".I would still try another round of sharpening. Love the sunrise reflection in the eye,
Gail
Last edited by gail bisson; 10-10-2013 at 03:28 AM.
Greetings. I like the pose and the composition. Even though explainable, if it were mine I'd take out the cast, as to my eye it has a net negative to the color of the image. ymmv.
This is a lovely bird, but for me the sharpness isn't there. 1/20 SS is too slow for a king fisher that moves about a lot, even if you locked down the lens and can be sure that it is not equipment shake. Loi
Kingfisher's new perch
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