Malachite Kingfisher at sunset

[Glenn Pure]

Of all the bird shots I took in Africa in May, this was my favourite. Hope you also like it. Taken in the Okavango Delta on one of the waterways as dusk was approaching. We had been out in the boat that morning and seen lots of these kingfishers - beautiful little birds indeed. I had a picture in mind from that morning trip of one of these at dusk perched on a reed but only really got one opportunity when we went out late that day. I wasn't able to get as close as I wanted either. But overall, I liked the result. Crop is about a third of the frame pixels. I have cloned out an OOF spider silk that cut across the top left of the image plus a few OOF 'blips' in the background - not sure what they were. I've lifted the bird a little by brightening shadows on the bird only and a little extra on the eye.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may wish to provide.

Technical: Canon 80D with EF 100-400 MkII at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/250 sec, f7.1, ISO 800. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, sharpness = 3, crop, lighting adjustments, default NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements with Neat Image NR plugin. Very light NR applied to bird and stronger NR to background. Sharpened (Sharpness tool) after final size reduction.

[Tim Foltz]

Glen love the colors and BG, nice details in the bird.
The only thing I would change if it were mine is the comp., I would crop out
the twig on the left and take a little bit out of the top and bottom, more of a 2x3 crop.
Wish it was mine.

-Tim

[Bill Dix]

What a gorgeous bird, and a gorgeous frame. Nice of the KF to perch on your side of the reed and to give you a good HA. Exposure looks spot-on and the IQ appears to have held up well with the crop. I like it as presented, but Tim's suggestion might be worth a try.

[Mike Poole]

Great bird and lovely colours throughout the shot - IQ has held up well to the crop.

Mike

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Glenn, I echo the previous comments. Gorgeous bird, lovely background, all the colors work well together. This image allows for many compositions, if mine I would explore other ways of presenting the image. As presented here it looks almost square which doesn't give many places to place the bird. I think Tim's suggestion of a 2x3 is what I would try. Thank you for sharing.

[Robert Kimbrell]

Want a sweet image. Beautiful colors. Sharpness looks good for a large crop.

[Glenn Pure]

Thanks you Tim, Bill, Mike, Joe and Robert. I had wondered how to crop this. One major consideration was saving the IQ from cropping any harder. However, you have encouraged me to have another go based on Tim's suggestion.

So here's the 3:2 crop as suggested by Tim, although I don't crop to exact ratios normally. Usually just go by eye. As noted, I dare not crop this any more at risk of impacting the IQ, which is already on the margin of acceptability for me - especially the white under the bird's bill. I'm not sure which crop I like best at this point.

[Jonathan Ashton]

What a gem, my first reaction was the stem on the left but on reflection I don't mind it and I think I like the crop ratio, I get more of an environment feeling.

[gail bisson]

Malachite kingfishers are my FAVORITE bird of all! when I see them flitting about in the reeds I think of little jewels. So tiny.
This is a beautiful image.
The new crop is so much nicer. I could also see a looser crop to show how tiny these birds are.
Love the BG color and the bit of vegetation on the right. Balances the comp nicely.
Gail

[William Dickson]

Love this image Glen, especially the repost. Beautiful colours throughout with fantastic lighting. Very nice pose with lovely feather detail and HA. Well done.

Will

[Arthur Morris]

Gee, everyone likes this one and so do I. I like it much better w/o the reed on the left. What AF point did you use for the original capture? I am betting that it was the center AF point ...

with love, arite

[Glenn Pure]

What AF point did you use for the original capture? I am betting that it was the center AF point ...

with love, arite

Indeed, that's what I normally use. In this case, I couldn't get very close so bird centred in original frame. Final crop was about a third of the total pixels - I had plenty of room to recompose the bird off-centre.

Cheers
Glenn

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Glenn, a typical pose from a Malachite looking for his next meal. Colours look spot on, and just love the colour to the BG. Your repost works well.

Being in SA, I have seen a lot of these little jewels, and if one has never seen a Malachite, you wouldnt believe how small they actually are.

[Arthur Morris]

Indeed, that's what I normally use. In this case, I couldn't get very close so bird centred in original frame. Final crop was about a third of the total pixels - I had plenty of room to recompose the bird off-centre.

Cheers
Glenn

Understood, but by using an AF point to the left you might have been able to include some really nice habitat on our right ... On the other hand, the extra pixels behind the bird will wind up in the trash can 99% of the time :)

with love, artie

[John Whaley]

It is a beautiful image. Beautiful bird, colors, light, composition... Well done.

[Glenn Pure]

Thank you all for your comments, insights and encouragement. After having looked at this a few more times, I think I prefer the smaller in frame view, showing the bird more in its environment. But I've noted the differences of view here.

Understood, but by using an AF point to the left you might have been able to include some really nice habitat on our right ... On the other hand, the extra pixels behind the bird will wind up in the trash can 99% of the time :)

with love, artie

Thanks for your expert insight here Artie. I understand your point completely. I do focus and re-compose often but wasn't too worried for this shot.... but I do get caught out some times with not enough space around the bird. I guess it's just practice and not getting too lost in the moment. I also need to zoom back more often than I do. Again, I've been caught out more than once not doing that.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for your expert insight here Artie. I understand your point completely. I do focus and re-compose often but wasn't too worried for this shot.... but I do get caught out some times with not enough space around the bird. I guess it's just practice and not getting too lost in the moment. I also need to zoom back more often than I do. Again, I've been caught out more than once not doing that.

YAW but I am confused. Assuming that the 80D allows you to choose an off-center AF point there should be no need to "focus and re-compose."

with love, artie

[Glenn Pure]

YAW but I am confused. Assuming that the 80D allows you to choose an off-center AF point there should be no need to "focus and re-compose."

with love, artie

Thanks Artie, the 80D does allow AF point selection using the two control wheels. It's functionally similar to the 7DII in most ways but has a newer generation sensor. I'm still locking with centre point and recomposing (except BIF/AI Servo shots). I've yet to experiment with moving AF points but I haven't read a compelling argument yet compared with other options like back button AF (which I'm also yet to play with). I'm sure I have a bit to learn and my technique is still evolving. I guess that's why I'm here!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Andrew. Lots more for you to learn. In addition to participating here, you should really add my daily blog to your improvement diet ... You wrote, " I've yet to experiment with moving AF points but I haven't read a compelling argument yet compared with other options like back button AF (which I'm also yet to play with)."

Here is main points that you are missing:

1- By opting to use only the center AF point you are locking yourself in compositional jail, you become a slave to the center AF point. If and when you visit the blog you will note that I rarely make an image using the center AF point (other than flight images).

2- Here is why you must keep AF active rather than using rear focus and re-composing when hand holding: unless you are sitting using the knee-pod technique, your body movement, even your breathing, will almost always throw off AF accuracy. If you get in the habit of choosing an AF point that will yield a pleasing image design and use shutter button AF, AF will be active and accurate all the time ...

Heck, I just realized that you could learn a ton from either ABP II, or better yet, from the two-book bundle. ABP II is available by download and we ship stuff Down Under every week.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

Glenn, I would love to use this image on my blog. Is it OK if I grab the repost in Pane #7 and crop it just a bit?

with love, artie

[Glenn Pure]

Thanks again Artie, especially your explanations on AF. I note your point about moving after AF lock and hadn't registered this risk as significant before, but it makes sense. I'll take a look at your blog with interest - in that regard, I find the green text used for the links below your sig very hard to read so didn't realise the link to the blog was there. Yes, I'm sure I have plenty to learn.

You are welcome to use the Malachite image on your blog.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks again Artie, especially your explanations on AF. I note your point about moving after AF lock and hadn't registered this risk as significant before, but it makes sense. I'll take a look at your blog with interest - in that regard, I find the green text used for the links below your sig very hard to read so didn't realise the link to the blog was there. Yes, I'm sure I have plenty to learn.

You are welcome to use the Malachite image on your blog.

Many thanks. The problems with visible and invisible colors and text arise because folks use different styles (bottom left on each BPN page ...) I use Captain James Mark II -- side.

with love, artie