Mouth to Mouth

[Stu Bowie]

My favourite subject or should I say these guys give me plenty opportunities to capture them. Pilanesberg nature reserve.

Canon 50D
100-400 L IS USM @ 400mm
1/1600
F/6.3
ISO 640

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:


Great timing. Amazing that he can swallow that fish.

Bird is sharp with maybe just a few hot white spots on the exposure. Nice head angle on bird and fish.

I wish the sun had been a bit more behind you, so his right side and eye were a bit better illuminated. The background is nice. It does seem like there is a faint sharpening halo around the entire bird. I might darken the perch just a bit so it doesn't compete with your subject.

Thanks for sharing. These are neat little guys!

Randy

[David Roach]

Great moment, for the KF, captured. Love the eye contact on both and the BG. Agree on toning down the perch.

[Phil Ertel]

Nice capture! I like the pose and it is a real plus to have the fish (I am sure the bird feels the same:D). If it were mine I would try toning sown the perch and perhaps seeing if lightening the eye a bit would help (or hurt). You might try toning down the brighter white to see if that would help with evening out the lighting some.

Thanks for sharing.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Light angle is not quite the best but the action is fine for me. :) You can almost read the fish's lips saying "Oh cr@p! What now?" Congratulations on this great subject. I like the perch, even though it seems a little big, not much you could have done about that really. Well done! :)

[Fabs Forns]

Poor fishie!!! His cry for help sound right here for me :)
Very nicely done, except wish for a better ight angle to illuminate the iridescence in the face.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Yes, the perch might be big, but it is telling its own story, good textures there and of course this kingfisher is a great looking fellow. The fish-on-bill is a big bonus. Sweet bg colors, it seems the eye suffered in post processing.

[Ken Watkins]

This picture captures the moment perfectly, whether or not the sun is at the right angle is largely irrelevant. The sun was where it was, the bird was where it was, and I am presuming Stuart could not do a lot about either.
This type of moment probably comes once in a lifetime and capturing it has to be the predominant factor, we can always wish for better circumstances but mostly they do not arrive, and we have to make do with what is in front of us.
Irrespective of the proposed technical faults this is a “lekker” picture, I like it a lot, nearly as much as Pied Kingfishers!

[Randy Stout]

Ken:

I believe everyone agrees that it is a fine picture, great timing,neat subject. I would be very proud to have it in my files. That doesn't mean that constructive comments aren't worthwhile. Stuart can't retake this picture, but if another opportunity presents, he might be able to set up differently, expose differently, etc. Every picture can be improved in some way or another. I look back at my old pictures, of which I was very proud of at the time, and realize how poor they were technically. A great moment perhaps, wonderful memory, but if I had the same opportunity again, I would do better, because of what have learned, and the constructive comments from others.

So, fine picture, great memory. If Stuart is lucky enough to have a similar set up again, it will be even better!

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much for the positive feed back and positive crits. We learn all the time, and with all you guys above, Im going to learn a lot.