Always Scanning

[Stu Bowie]

With the new posting size, I thought I would look for one of my favourite subjects at my favourite location. I dont have a 4k/5k screen so I'm compromising with 1700 pix wide. This male Pied Kingfisher was perched high above the water scanning for any movement of fish down below. I was a bit too close with too much lens, so the DOF is not quite ideal. I dont believe stopping down any further at this distance would have made any difference. The BG is distant winter grass on the opposite side of the dam. Sadly this perch is no longer there. I heard it was knocked over by Elephants having a bath close to the hide.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 400F/2.8 +1.4 TC = 560mm
1/2500
F/6.3
ISO 640

Hand Held

[Doug Brown]

Really nice Stu! Can't say we have a big problem with elephants knocking over perches here in the states!

[John Mack]

Cool bird looking bird here. Really like that perch and the background.

[Isaac Grant]

The bird against that background look fantastic. Have to say again that I am loving the new size limits. Details look sweet. I have seen these birds but not for a long long time. Seem to recall the blacks being a bit deeper and not as washed out as this one seems. Thoughts? Also I had a good laugh about the elephant issue. Def not a problem in the USA. But we do have problems with clowns from time to time.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Stu, beautiful kingfisher, black and white quite different than I have see. Exposure and detail on the bird look great, perfect background. I am wondering if the perch that the bird is grasping is angling towards us the viewer because it is not the same focus as the bird. Lovely image, thank you for sharing.

[Bill Dix]

Very nice KF image. Just the right turn of head, and good plain background. Yes, a bit more DOF might have helped. Oh, the difficulties of photographing in Africa: getting TOO close to Kingfishers, and then the elephants knock over the perch. I just have to contend with the squirrels on my feeders.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent light, BG and pose. The details are quite good and nice to see this one up close, I am glad we made the size changes, it has made the site much more appealing

TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

It does look like there is a bit of haze on the cheek and shoulder area. Other than that, great frame. Good head angle, neat perch, perfect background. I had a small perch knocked down by a squirrel once...take that!

[Glenn Pure]

Stu, I loved seeing these while in Africa in May last year. But I never nailed a really good shot like the one you got here. Background is perfect and pose wonderful along with the detail esp at the larger posting size. I too wondered about the blacks and the perception of haze over the eye and head but I really can't recall that well just how black the plumage was.

[Randy Stout]

Stu:

This is very nice, handsome bird, well captured, like the slight curve to the perch top.

I too was struck by the slight haze. Certainly worth revisiting. I looked at the black point in all three channels, and it could stand a bit of adjusting.

Cheers

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all for the postive feedback. I was aware of the haze and blacks and was going to adjust it and probably got distracted. Here is a repost.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hey Stu, nought wrong with this, love the vibrant backdrop, the rich, warm, saturated orange really makes the subject pop, with cracking detail. For me it's somewhere between the two, making a composite and then bring back some of the finer detail in the OP would be, (in Mr Ashtons words) 'tickety-boo'.


Might have to grab an early morning with you after Axel & Banjo's walk.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Stu the first image looked hazy to me too, any idea what caused it? I find the blacks in the repost a little heavy. Some of the whites look grey but I suspect this is natural colouration and not that the whites were blown at capture. Sounds a bit negative but not meant to be I like the image in its entirety..... but not quite up to you very high standard. Not quite tickety boo or rinky tinky!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks Guys. All the images are hazy. This was a borrowed lens so I was trying it out for something different. I certainly dont have results like this with my lens +TC's.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I was thinking haze too. The white area on the neck appears washed out without detail despite the rest of it being nicely detailed. I knew it was either a borrowed or a new lens for you. :D
Which 400/2.8 is it? First gen IS or no IS or second gen IS. I'd be passing on it if it does not produce crisp images with even a 2x.

Other than that, it is a fantastic image. Love that BG and the pose is great. The new image sizes are awesome.

[David Salem]

Beautiful frame Stu! Love the pose and colors in this one. Deffinite haze to the first and a bit to dark on the second so somewhere in-between is the ticket. Well done