Perching high up

[Stu Bowie]

This was a grab shot of this male Giant Kingfisher, and when I looked at the image, I thought lets see the result after processing it, as this is quite a crop. I decided to leave a lot of space to show off the colourful BG.
Taken early morning at my local pond in Pretoria on sunday.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300 F/2.8 +1.4 TC = 420mm
1/1600
F/6.3
ISO 800

Exp comp +0.33
Hand held

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful Stu! Nice action shot! Just wondering if you could push the crop even a little more or alternatively drop a little off the top & bottom (leaving at the bottom just a little more than what you've left on the right and drop the same amount off the top)?

[David Salem]

Nice frame Stuart. I like the upward flight position and the color of the KF is beautiful against that BG. Sure has a good sense of motion. I might be tempted to take some off the top. Well captured.

[Satish Ranadive]

Stuart Sir,
Superb up word flight pose you have captured here.
I like the catch light, wing position and fanned tail feather. Love the way he pops up against very nice backdrop.

Regards,
Satish.

[vishaljadhav]

I like the space you have kept
even with a crop the bird appears decently sharp as needed
very nice and colourful frame.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Stu - I tend to like small in frame images and this is no exception. For me the bit of wing blur enhances. Sharp where it counts and good placement in frame with complementary colors.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu , this works so nice with the pleasing BKG , the dynamic pose of the KF and the very nice colors. IQ holds very nice like wise , good job overall .

TFS Andreas

[MiroslavMaric]

Hi Stuart. Like the moment and this flight pose. BG is fine too. Concerning crop of such moment I'm the fun of 2/3 bird and 1/3 BG. Thanks for sharing! Cheers! Miro

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone.

[gail bisson]

Hi Stu,
I don't know about this one...
The comp seems off to me.
I would take a lot off the top but this might be too much of a crop and affect IQ.
I like the fanned tail but wish the far wing was better seen and more extended.
Gail

[Shawn Zierman]

Love the background canvas. I can see why you chose to show much of it. The angle of flight and flight pose of the bird are excellent. Beautiful image sir.

[adrian dancy]

The bird looks sharp and detailed. A superb angle and flight pose. I love the image design. I'm sensing that you may have over blurred or NR the background but the image still looks good.

[Dave Spates]

Nice shot, I know these can be difficult birds to get in flight. I am a fan of a lot of space around birds and like the crop how it is, the bird is flying up and you can see where he is going. Nice catch light and overall lighting on the kingfisher also.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Hi Stu, I like this one a lot. Can't be easy capturing these speedsters and you've got him tack sharp. Perfect exposure and I love the light + BG colors. The comp is unconventional, and it works for me. Looking forward to more.

[Jonathan Ashton]

The image is a little taller than might usually be expected but I rather like it. The detail in the bird and the colours are super, it works for me!

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the varied suggestions on the comp. Always appreciated.

[Richard Flack]

Hi Stu, this works really well for me. Great BG and composition and I like the sense of motion. Nice one!