2000th post - Little Kingfisher

[Tony Whitehead]

Thought I'd celebrate 2000 with an image from my favourite group of birds, the kingfishers. The Little is Australia's smallest kingfisher with a fairly limited range. Spent 3 days in the Daintree trying to get a decent image - usually they are seen as a streak of departing blue. On my final morning of 4 a.m starts I managed this one which made me happy :D. Thanks to all who have made and continue to make BPN the fun learning place it is.
Nikon D300
Nikon 200-400 @ 400mm
ISO 400 f4 1/160
Matrix + 0 SB 800 -1.0
Monopod in boat

[Phil Liew]

Tony, congratulations on an astounding shot to celebrate your 2000th posting. Good lighting control as too much fill flash changes the colours entirely. Whites around the rump look a little hot or perhaps just me.

Composition is good with head turn/eye contact. The BG obviously adds to making the subject pop out. good one!

[Dave Barnes]

Good shot of this little Guy Tony. Is he a fish or insect eater.
Super colour and nice eye contact and detail.
Congrats on the 2000.

[Andy MacDougall]

Excellent shot Tony. Good comp although I would prefer a little more room to left and top.

The branch gives a nice curve and leads into the frame but the OOF left end is a tad distracting to my eye.

The bird itself - great pose, eye contact and the right angle. Colour stunning, maybe whites a little hot - perhaps more feather detail lurking in there ?

I live in Cairns btw and have an Azure KF to post from the Daintree last week.

Andy

[Stu Bowie]

Tony, congrats on your milestone of 2000. Thanks for all the positive feedback, and knowledge you share with us. Great sighting, super pose, sharp,and you have exposed the colours nicely. This little guy looks like our half collared kingfisher.

[Simon Bennett]

Fine capture of a most beautiful bird.

[Tony Whitehead]

This little guy looks like our half collared kingfisher.

Thanks guys. Stuart/Dave, this is a little similar to the Half-collared but is a lot smaller (11-13cm vs 18cm) and feeds on aquatic food rather than terrestrial - also only blue/white with no warm tones in the plumage. Looking forward to your Azure, Andy.

[Juan Aragonés]

Tony your contribution here is really valuable and appreciated, very good advise, excellent critic style and great photos, and this one is a very good example. Big congratulations for the milestone and for the good job in BPN:):)
Thi slittle guy well deserves three days of waiting because it is really beautifull. I like the head turn, terrific sharpness, composition and the balance between the dark BG and the luminosity of the bird. This image is a very good choice to celebrate the 2000th post :)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations on the milestone, Tony! Your comments are most appreciated.

Great image of this beautiful bird. I like the pose, BG and eye contact and might lighten the eye a bit.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A nice milestone post for sure! You're comments and images have been fun to read and watch.

Beautiful subject, quite the blue hue this guy has! Keep up the great work, looking forward to it :-)

[Steve Canuel]

Congrats and thanks for the helpful critiques. Nice colors and head turn. Cute bird (where's the rest of that tail :)) I also like the sweeping line of the perch.

[Doug Brown]

Congratulations Tony and thanks for all your help! Beautiful Kingfisher too! Nice exposure control with your whites.

[Krijn Trimbos]

I love kingfishers and this one is no exception! I love the colours captured, and the headturn. Congrats on your 2000th post! Well done!

[Alfred Forns]

Big Congrats on the 2k Tony !!!! Can't imagine a better image to celebrate !!!

[Fabs Forns]

Congrats on your milestone and thanks for all our efforts helping others in BPN !!!

[Randy Stout]

Tony:

Congrats on 2000! I do appreciate your comments and images. When I really first started posting, after Arties IPT in Feb, you were the 1st to comment on my first image from that outing, and it really got me off to a positive start. I still appreciate that.

This guy is so blue, it makes our indigo bunting look dull!
Techs already covered!

Thanks !!

Randy

[Ramon M. Casares]

Congratulations! Not only for the 2000 posts but for such a tremendous shot! Not only I am big fan of Kingfishers, but this species is one of the most beautifull I have seen! Great light, detail, colors, exppsure, sharpness, BG and comp, I am not crazy about the OOF perch, but it doesn't take anything away from this spectacular image! Congratulations.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Beautiful image Tony!
Love the very exotic colors of this KF.

Congrats on the milestone. Your comments and suggestions are very appreciated and welcome.

[Kobus Tollig]

Super looking bird. Like this loads. Colours really great. well done

[Nagesh Mula]

Beautiful image and well composed. I may take off the slight chip underneath the bottom of the branch though.
Big congrats for completing 2K milestone!!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Perch mentioned. Boy, this fellow must be tiny! Exposure is perfect and the environment is spot on as well. I recently held an Azure KF in my hands and thought that was miniscule!

Well done on your 2000 posts Tony. Look forward to 2000 more now so don't slacken off aye? I guess that leaves less time for the haka! ;)

[Gayle Clement]

This is a fabulous bird, Tony. I love it!

[Daniel Belasco]

What better way to celebrate Tony than with this super fantastic image.
You are True Blue.
Congrats on your 2000.
dan