Pied Kingfisher.

[Thinus Schoeman]

I recently paid a weekend visit to one of our local bird sanctuaries. This venue has a few Pied Kingfishers as well Giant Kingfishers that make their home there.
I was able to take this take-off shot just after the pied kingfisher took off to follow a mate. These birds are very, very fast, and you really have to be sharp on the shutter to capture these. I had several failures in the past. I would have liked to have more of the bird nice and sharp, but the darkish background brought my shutter speed down at the ISO I took the shot.

Camera Model Canon EOS 70D
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/2500
Av(Aperture Value) 5.6
ISO Speed 640
Lens EF400mm f/5.6L USM
Exp Comp -0.3

I did my basic processing in LR5, where I adjusted exposure and contrast by small measures. I also made some local adjustments to the head, by way of a bit of sharpening and exposure. I saved, and re-opened in camera RAW where I did my sharpening and noise reduction. I also In Photoshop I added a bit of canvas to the right.

Thanks for looking, and comments and critique are welcome as always.

[Thinus Schoeman]

Hi all, somehow I uploaded the image twice, and I battle to delete one of them. My apologies.
Thinus

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Thinus, hope you enjoyed your first visit to Mankwe, and with this, Im sure you did. Well timed, and I like the forward wing position. Exposure spot on, and good to see the flying droplets.

I didnt get anything like this, but still had fun with everyone there.

Sorted your double post.

[Thinus Schoeman]

Thanks for the feedback Stu, and also for fixing the double post! I certainly enjoyed myself, thanks!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Good capture Thinus, nice work with this speedy little fellow. Nice wing position and exposure. Love the black and white colors of the bird, much different than the kingfishers I see here in Florida.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice flight pose and neat mottled BG. Techs look good too. Perhaps a tiny additional round of sharpening to the face. I'd also give back a bit of room for the comp (right and bottom), but all around a super image!

[Loi Nguyen]

Thinus, good capture here and I love the near wing position. The head and neck are a bit soft as Daniel pointed out and could use another round of sharpening. I juts got back from Botswana and had a couple of flight shots of these guys, but mine was a bit soft, so haven't posted. I should process it anyway and see what they look like. TFS. Loi

[Binu John]

Sweet shot of the KF in flight! Love the exposure, wing position! Well done!

[Marina Scarr]

Well captured and a very difficult bird to capture in flight...my nemesis bird. Love the water droplets! A tad more room all around would be helpful.

[David Salem]

Nice capture and it looks pretty sharp, especially the head. The BG looks great and the water spray adds to the image.
Another vote for some more room all around, it will make the image look sharper too. Well done