Hovering Pied Kingfisher.

[Stu Bowie]

I thought I would post a pose of these guys that I havent posted before - hovering above the water, scanning below for his next meal. The BG in this is the sky, and captured at my favourite location for Kingfishers - Pilanesberg National Park.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 400mm F/2.8 +1.4 tc = 560mm ( borrowed for the morning )
1/1600
F/8.0
ISO 800

Exp comp +0.33

[Bill Dix]

Great hovering pose, concentrating on the water. I like the bill (slightly open) clear of the wing; and I love the almost b&w look.

[Mike Poole]

Great pose Stu, especially with the curled primaries. I love watching KFs hover. Have you done some eye work on this? It just looks a little lighter than I would have thought (not that I've ever seen one of these !)

Mike

[David Salem]

I like the hovering pose and the nice details in this Stu. I also like the monochrome look to the frame too. I do feel like something isn't right with the eye and the right underwing.
Maybe they were lightened a little to much? Well done catching the action Stu.

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks guys. I have lightened the eye, maybe a tad too much. Nothing done to the right wing.

[keith mitchell]

Stu always think that you need to do a bit with the eye to lift it from the other black plumage so I understand what you needed to do,it's a great hovering pose which I have seen many times but never able to capture anything as good as this.

Keith.

[Stu Bowie]

Here is a repost with the eye darkened.

[Mike Poole]

Looks more natural to me Stu

Mike

[Glennie Passier]

Stu, not knowing the bird and it's eye colour, I like the OP better. Such a beautiful image. I love the simple palette very much. The upturned primaries and the slightly opened beak.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Wonderful image, the palette of the bird and background, upturned primaries, the head angle and concentration of the bird all make this special. Thank you for sharing, Stu.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Excellent capture, Stu. Neat hovering pose looking for next meal. Beak partially open a bonus and wonderful capture of single-mindedness of task at hand.


Geoffrey

[christopher galeski]

Nice hovering pose Stu,like the look of consentration on the birds face,BG conplements the color of the bird.TFS.

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Stu, the hovering KF pose looks great. The OP lacks the separation between the head/eye and the far wing. The RP addressed those. Well done. Loi

[Jonathan Ashton]

A fine shot Stu I like the almost monotone effect also - very eye catching.