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Thread: Kingfisher season is underway!

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Default Kingfisher season is underway!

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    I've been watching my local pair for the last couple of months, and today was the first opportunity I've had to get some reasonable shots in half decent light. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more throughout the season, I'm still trying to find their fishing grounds, so it's just perched shots for now.

    Canon 5d3
    500mm f4is
    ISO 2000
    1/500th f6.3

    A couple of stray twigs cloned out.

    Mike

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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Nice pose on the KF and love to see the prey. Perch is a bit bright and subject at a pretty steep angle. I realize you're already at ISO2000, but is there any way to slap on a TC and move back for these captures to cut off your angle. You are already at 6.3 here and you could still shoot at that aperture with a TC.
    Marina Scarr
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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Lovely shot Mike great exposure on the kingfisher, love those whiskers on the fish!
    The background is a little heavy for me, how about de-saturating and lightening it a little bit?

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    Hi Mike,

    If you can, then being more at eye level, rather than looking up I feel would give the viewer a better angle here. I also agree with Jon, overall the whole image looks very saturated, I appreciate they are bright & colourful, but taming the colour a bit will help. I also think you need more SS, ISO2000 isn't high for the 5D and gaining a tad more DoF and far more SS will ensure the image is sharp. The 'catch' isn't sharp and I'm wondering how sharp the KF's head is, as I get the impression the sharpening is pushed a bit more than required???? Any noise can easily be addressed in PP. The eye also looks lightened, the light is too even, shadows do play a part, but I could be wrong.

    Saying all of the above, I feel you are on the right course Mike and appreciate this is just the beginning, once they settle down and you get more under your belt I think you will have some cracking images.

    You should be clear now of the breeding season and doubt the Schedule 1 Act applies, but also hard to enforce too.

    TFS
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marina Scarr View Post
    Nice pose on the KF and love to see the prey. Perch is a bit bright and subject at a pretty steep angle. I realize you're already at ISO2000, but is there any way to slap on a TC and move back for these captures to cut off your angle. You are already at 6.3 here and you could still shoot at that aperture with a TC.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan Ashton View Post
    Lovely shot Mike great exposure on the kingfisher, love those whiskers on the fish!
    The background is a little heavy for me, how about de-saturating and lightening it a little bit?
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Mike,

    If you can, then being more at eye level, rather than looking up I feel would give the viewer a better angle here. I also agree with Jon, overall the whole image looks very saturated, I appreciate they are bright & colourful, but taming the colour a bit will help. I also think you need more SS, ISO2000 isn't high for the 5D and gaining a tad more DoF and far more SS will ensure the image is sharp. The 'catch' isn't sharp and I'm wondering how sharp the KF's head is, as I get the impression the sharpening is pushed a bit more than required???? Any noise can easily be addressed in PP. The eye also looks lightened, the light is too even, shadows do play a part, but I could be wrong.

    Saying all of the above, I feel you are on the right course Mike and appreciate this is just the beginning, once they settle down and you get more under your belt I think you will have some cracking images.

    You should be clear now of the breeding season and doubt the Schedule 1 Act applies, but also hard to enforce too.

    TFS
    Steve
    Thanks for the replies, some interesting points raised, which I'll try and address.

    The perch is the pairs favoured natural perch used just before entering the nest, and often straight after exit. It isn't one that I put in. When I put my hide in place the only suitable location meant I was lower than I wanted, so yes the angle is a bit steeper than ideal (Marina's idea may be a workaround here).

    Regarding the BG, I've not touched it in any way. I used DPP 4 and did very little to the RAW file other that apply Arash's NR figures. No saturation was added, this is just the natural location. I'll take a look at lightening it to see if it makes things better (cheers Jon).

    Personally I think 1/500th on a tripod for this type of shot should be adequate. I take Steves advice regarding higher shutter speeds whenever possible, but these do tend to stay very still for a few seconds at a time, and I would prefer to have had a smaller aperture for the fish and kept the shutter speed where it is.

    There is very minimal sharpening on the bird, just the default setting in DPP, then a very small amount of smart sharpen in PS after resizing for here. I did give the fish a bit more though. Steve - yes I did lighten the eye, maybe a bit too much?

    The plan over the next few weeks now is to try and tempt them onto some strategically placed perches at a height that suits me and the BG better, and hopefully that will produce better results.

    Steve - I do keep schedule 1 at the forefront of my thinking, and am confident my behaviour here was not affecting the birds, they continued to come and go at the same rate as when I was watching them from afar, and were feeding what I presume to be the chicks in the nest very regularly.

    Thanks again for the insightful comments - it's the reason I come on BPN

    regards

    Mike

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Personally I think 1/500th on a tripod for this type of shot should be adequate.
    Cheers Mike, in theory yes, but then I might suggest try a remote, nothing to loose. I'm packing mine for the next few weeks, anything that may add to ensuring sharper images is a plus in my book.

    I know Arash likes Standard, and Artie will adjust accordingly where needed I believe, me I want the RAW as flat as a pancake so I'm starting on a clean canvas so to speak. We all work and see things differently, that's the beauty Mike.

    Schedule 1 was just in passing Mike.

    am confident my behaviour here was not affecting the birds, they continued to come and go at the same rate as when I was watching them from afar, and were feeding what I presume to be the chicks in the nest very regularly.
    Good fieldcraft and a healthy respect, seems good Mike, if you slowly build up your movements and the hide with minimal disturbance you will be onto a winner. Just don't crowd them first off and let them come to you.

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    Nice one Mike. I agree it does seem a little saturated, but easily toned down a bit.
    I had four hours on my pair this morning and they are feeding like mad. They are notoriously confiding. and about the most still sitters of birds I know- a lot of mine were at 125th sec and tack sharp with the 500mm.
    What is the fish its brought in - I,ve been trying to work itb out. ?. My pair have fed exclusively on Bullheads for two weeks. We never realised there were so many in the brook.
    Cheers
    John

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    Mike I have noted the comments above,not sure about the saturation it looks ok on my monitor,do like the bits of what looks like fish scales on the bill,I'm also ok with the sharping.

    Keith.

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Robinson View Post
    Nice one Mike. I agree it does seem a little saturated, but easily toned down a bit.
    I had four hours on my pair this morning and they are feeding like mad. They are notoriously confiding. and about the most still sitters of birds I know- a lot of mine were at 125th sec and tack sharp with the 500mm.
    What is the fish its brought in - I,ve been trying to work itb out. ?. My pair have fed exclusively on Bullheads for two weeks. We never realised there were so many in the brook.
    Cheers
    John
    Cheers John,

    I'm told elsewhere that this is a Bullhead - can't comment myself, it's just a kingfisher snack to me!

    Interesting about the saturation - I shoot 'neutral' and haven't added anything here, but there must be something for people to be commenting.

    Good luck with yours

    Mike

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    Quote Originally Posted by keith mitchell View Post
    Mike I have noted the comments above,not sure about the saturation it looks ok on my monitor,do like the bits of what looks like fish scales on the bill,I'm also ok with the sharping.

    Keith.
    Cheers Keith, much appreciated

    Mike

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Hi Mike, great catch for both of you, and the colours on the KF are spot on. I like that we can see the eyes of the fish, and great and he's perched on a thin perch. I hope you managed to capture some shots of the meal going down the hatch.

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    Nice one Mike. Its good to see a KF on a 'different' perch. I love the sharp detail on the bird and the prey. Not sure about the BG, a wee bit dark maybe?

    Will

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    Mike if you want to fire it over, I would gladly take a look and see if I can add some pointers if that helps, but it would need to be the RAW. Just looked at it in LR , it is quite dark and saturated.

    Let me know.

    Cheers
    Steve

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    Any picture of a kingfisher is great by me. Love the detail and colours on this image and the captured fish raises it a notch. Could see the background just a tad lighter.

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    Hi Mike
    The fish is one of the Roach family(hence the scales which have come off during the "bashing".
    Bullheads are virtually scaleless. Thought you,d like that bit of useless info
    Cheers
    John

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    I have photographed Kingfishers from 12 feet away and the colours here are spot on Mike ...(apart from the bright eye)
    After the bird as fed the young and flown out of the nest the first thing it does is wash itself ,the bird is basicaly constantly wet when in feeding mode ,this in certain light will give the birds underbelly a more saturated look.....hope that makes sense
    Last edited by dennis greenwood; 05-19-2016 at 03:22 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Mike if you want to fire it over, I would gladly take a look and see if I can add some pointers if that helps, but it would need to be the RAW. Just looked at it in LR , it is quite dark and saturated.

    Let me know.

    Cheers
    Steve
    Cheers Steve - Pm sent with the dropbox file

    regards

    Mike

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Love the fish's beard and the great discussion above. Yes to the perch being too bright, esp. the upper edge... a
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    Attached Images Attached Images
     
    Hi Mike, very quick edit of the RAW, however:

    - Raw is nice and sharp, good detail, but I still feel a bit more DoF and some SS for the 'catch'
    - The image is heavily Saturated, but swamped IMHO with Contrast. Balancing these two I think helps, but just my take
    - Colour is all subjective, but opening some of it up has brought out more detail from the original capture
    - Toning down the perch helps and brings some more detail/depth back, likewise on the catch too


    Curious, looks like ice on the bill?
    I think the location maybe an issue, as the light looks minimal (tough shooting) which could be an issue in terms of techs, however...

    The 'Guts' are all there in the RAW, I just think you need to try and expand the PP side. You don't need to get too geeky, but a bit more will bring out more from your captures and far more rewarding for all the patience you have put in.

    Good luck in the future.

    Cheers
    Steve

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve, not near a proper screen right now so I'll take a proper look tomorrow

    Mike


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    No worries Mike. Steve's repost is a huge improvement. Well done Mr. Kaluski!
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    Cheers Artie.

    Mike did the hard work it achieving the capture, I just tried to help extract more from the file. As I said, I feel the location is dark, nothing you can do, so the Histogram will be more towards the Darks & Shadows with a fine line to retaining the whites to the right. Therefore, trying to 'lift' the image will bring more noise out from those areas, not good.

    BTW looking at the 'Camera Info' the Camera is set to Standard Mike, not Neutral so you may wish to check it, as Standard will make the image look Vivid, sharp & Crisp. Personally I prefer Neutral because it suits my 'Workflow' and style of processing, however you can always change it if you use DPP.

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    Nice one Mike,loverly colors and nice detail,and the fish a bonus,can see a bit of noise in the BG on my screen,TFS,

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kaluski View Post
    Hi Mike, very quick edit of the RAW, however:

    - Raw is nice and sharp, good detail, but I still feel a bit more DoF and some SS for the 'catch'
    - The image is heavily Saturated, but swamped IMHO with Contrast. Balancing these two I think helps, but just my take
    - Colour is all subjective, but opening some of it up has brought out more detail from the original capture
    - Toning down the perch helps and brings some more detail/depth back, likewise on the catch too


    Curious, looks like ice on the bill?
    I think the location maybe an issue, as the light looks minimal (tough shooting) which could be an issue in terms of techs, however...

    The 'Guts' are all there in the RAW, I just think you need to try and expand the PP side. You don't need to get too geeky, but a bit more will bring out more from your captures and far more rewarding for all the patience you have put in.

    Good luck in the future.

    Cheers
    Steve
    Thanks for taking the time to do this Steve, much appreciated.

    The colours certainly look very different here, and they are clearly a lot more toned down. I went with my usual workflow with this, so maybe I need to work on a more 'case by case' type style rather than what I am doing now.

    Hopefully over the coming weeks I can get them in better locations with better evening light and the perches more put in the open as opposed to the overhanging trees this one had which is the reason for such a dark BG

    Thanks again

    Mike

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    Lifetime Member Mike Poole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stu Bowie View Post
    Hi Mike, great catch for both of you, and the colours on the KF are spot on. I like that we can see the eyes of the fish, and great and he's perched on a thin perch. I hope you managed to capture some shots of the meal going down the hatch.
    Cheers Stu - I assume they're feeding the young at the moment as there is almost constant fishing and the fish are going straight into the nest. I'll try and get a down the hatch shot when this brood has fledged

    Mike

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    Hi Mike - This is a great discussion. Once again, Steve has taken an already very nice image up a few notches. Looking forward to seeing more of your images of these colorful subjects.


    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Mike your camera may be set to Neutral but what is the default setting in DPP4? I suspect that is Standard??

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    Mike
    Just a thought. The young after hatching are in the nest for about 27-30 days according to how m,any she has. They get very vociferous when older so you should be able to guage the leaving time.
    The BBC put a tank of tiddlers down but thats a bit naughty
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    Beautiful shot and great subject .........
    Love the pray item here .... the green BG compliment the bird and frame...
    I love steve RP also....
    Loved it

    Regds...

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    Great looking capture Mike. Looks like you're going to have a good KFr season.
    I think Steves rendition looks good but it is a hare thin on my monitor. A little more mids to his will be just right.
    Love the pose with the fish and all in a sweet BG. Well done
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