Ruffled Kingfisher

[Stu Bowie]

My settings were set for a take off, but sometimes these guys can perch for ages, so all I came away with on this shot was a bunch of ruffled feathers. Taken early morning in the Pilanesberg National Park a few weekends ago. The BG is distant grassland.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/4000
F.6.3
ISO 1000

Hand held

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Wonderful background Stu. Great pose too and the perch is a killer.
Well done mate.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Typical mankwe BG and perch...Superb pose and exposure!

[Rachel Hollander]

Stu - The ruffled feathers are great. Excellent comp and perch and nice control of the blacks and whites. Well done!

TFS,
Rachel

[Ed Kelly]

Stu-wonderful detail,background & perch.

Ed

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu nothing more to say than .... this works very nicely.Superb controlled HL and SH .

Great work , TFS Andreas

[Randy Stout]

Stu:

Neat pose and techs, but for me it is the combination of the lines of the bird and the curving perch that really makes it sing!

I might consider moving the bird a sliver to the left by a tiny crop from the left.

Cheers

Randy

[David Salem]

Itt sure is funny how we have our own species that we find readily available. I drove three times, two hours each way, to a location where a Kingfisher was hunting in the morning for about an hour on a specific perch. You guessed it, I struck out all three times.
I was dreaming of a shot this good every time I drove out there. Great work Stu.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the ruffled feathers, exposure, composition, sweet BG and character in the perch. Excellent image Stuart!

[Stu Bowie]

I drove three times, two hours each way, to a location where a Kingfisher was hunting in the morning for about an hour on a specific perch. You guessed it, I struck out all three times.
I was dreaming of a shot this good every time I drove out there.

Hey Dave, Ive told you previously, we have to swop locations so I can have a bit of your Raptor and Owl fun, and you can get as many of these Kingfishers as you like - if they pitch up.

[Joseph Przybyla]

As perfect at it gets. Beautiful bird, great perch, wonderful colors. Thank you for sharing Stu.

[William Dickson]

Beautiful frame Stu. Love the colours on the bird which you controlled perfectly. Pose, POV and HA all good. Very nice

Will

[keith mitchell]

Stuart it's been pretty well covered above but that pose and BG take it up another level for me.

Keith.

[Alison McCoy]

Everyone has said it all but I want to say I love this image. Beautiful bird and it is great to see the detail in the ruffled feathers. Nice capture.

[John Robinson]

All been said Stu
John

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack for all the feedback everyone. Always appreciated.

[Gabriela Plesea]

A beauty, Stu I think it is time you visit St Lucia and why not Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve, winter might be on its way in SA but not in Kwazulu Natal, we are "shivering" here tonight at 25"C

Beautifully exposed and I love the pose, sharp where needed, so well composed. Should you take the Shakabarker boat on the St Lucia Lake, you might not need to sharpen your images for web, you can get sooo close...

Just teasing you...if you ever decide to come this way, do let us know. We'll help you plan your itinerary and hopefully do a shoot together over a week-end:)

Warm regards (really warm, KZN warm!)

[Glenn Conlan]

Well done, excellent exposure and detail with a very nice perch. Hard species to capture

[gail bisson]

Really like this Stu!
Great light and curvy perch.
Gail

[Charlene Bacchioni]

Pin sharp Stu ,Love the BG,the black and white balance spot on.

[Troy Lim]

Wild hairdo, first time seeing a shot like this. Very nice.