We don't do very well for kingfishers in North America; essentially we have one species- the Belted Kingfisher. This is an image of a female created in the Sackville Waterfowl Park today. What we lose in species diversity, we make up by having a spectacular, large representative of the family. Kingfishers are very weary here and they have been a nemesis bird for me in a way. I was not close enough to this one either, but I was pleased that the image was sharp and so I could crop. I'm afraid the white neck band was blown some so I repaired (should have used -1/3 or -2/3 compensation?). I also removed a few branches from around the legs of the bird. Hope you like.
Wonderful COMP. Love the spray of leaves. All in all, too wishy-washy with levels and contrast...
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Thanks for all the good comments and to Artie for the improved repost. I knew I had some pure blacks and pure whites in the image so I didn't think about adjusting Levels or Curves for fear of making it worse. I also got caught up in the soft light in the image. I saw the bird back in the same place the next day so I might give it another try.