Common Kingfisher

[Mike Koopmans]

MTK - Wildlife by mt.koopmans, on Flickr

This is the first picture I share on this forum. Have been going through the pages and am really in awe of how high the overall level of quality is of the pictures that are posted here! Really made me hesitant to share anything at all. But by sharing I hope to learn and so I decided to go ahead and post this picture anyway. I will try to keep the guidelines in mind as much as possible with my description so here we go.

Thought Process:
For more than 6 months I had been going to a hide at the Lepelaarsplassen in Almere, the Netherlands, with the one and only goal to make a picture of one of the most beautiful birds I know: the common kingfisher. For months it eluded me. There were times when I sat at the hide for hours (even in the freezing cold) and didn't see a thing. And then there were times when I entered the hide people would tell me how I just missed it... But I just kept going until one day when the second scenario seemed to be repeating itself for the 100th time.

There was a group of about 6 photographers already in the hide when I arrived in the afternoon on a pretty sunny day and they were talking enthusiastically about the white tailed eagle they had seen and, of course, the kingfisher that had been sitting on a branch not 6 feet away until right before I arrived. I was very disappointed because I thought there wasn't a chance of him returning and doing another show but boy was I wrong.

I installed myself between the 6 photographers and not five minutes later here it was: sitting on the exact branch that I was hoping for, giving an incredible show. It dove down in the water a couple of times to catch fish, returning to the same branch between dives. One time it sat down I was really focused on whether or not it would flap it's wings. When it did, I was ready for it. Only one of the other photographers caught the moment as well; the rest just couldn't respond fast enough.

Technical details:
Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 100-400/4.5-5.6 L IS USM (at 400)
ISO 800
Evaluative metering
Av-mode
Exposure compensation: -2/3
Shutter speed: 1/1000
Aperture: 6.3
Focus Mode: AI Servo
Bean bag

Post processing:
In post processing I cropped a little bit I think. Nothing was cloned out. I have only brightened the shadows a little bit, added a bit of saturation, sharpened the picture and removed a bit of noise. I think that on this department I still have a lot to learn, since I don't think I have the knowledge yet to get the best out of my pictures with Photoshop. But both on this part and taking the picture altogether tips are greatly appreciated!

Thanks, and I hope to have a great time here while learning from you all! :)

[nick clayton]

The lighting is really nice and brings out the rich colours of the bird. The background is uncluttered and smooth and I like the perch. The open wing position makes the pose dramatic and interesting. The only real negative for me is the Kingfishers head is facing away from you, but great first effort Mike!

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to BPN Mike! I think most of us can relate to your story; glad to see that your persistence paid off! I agree 100% with Nick's critique; an overall excellent frame, but I wish the bird was angled towards us. Look forward to seeing more of your images.

[Mike Koopmans]

You guys hit the nail on the head (Dutch saying): it's my biggest negative of this picture also. Would have loved to have had his head turned towards me a bit more, but I couldn't move to the left either because there were like 5 other photographers there. I do have some pictures of this same bird in the classic pose with his head turned towards me a lot more, but that picture didn't turn out as sharp as I want it to be because in that period I was experiencing issues with the autofocus of my 7D which I had Canon fix the day after this picture was taken. It turned out my autofocus wasn't configured right, so my knawing feeling that something was off (and at first it had me doubting myself instead of the camera) turned out to be right.

Doesn't matter: only gives me more reason to go out again and improve on this shot :).

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hi Mike, welcome to BPN!! You present us with a very good image here, that can only have been better with a more pleasing head angle (but you know that). The techs and processing look top-notch. Nice story to read too, one that many of us can relate to. Looking forward to more form you!