Belted Kingfisher

[Edward Fisher]

This morning, I sat for over three hours in a blind, and came away with a CF card loaded with images of the male and female kingfisher.



ISO 400, f8 @ 1/1000 sec, 50D, 500mm f4.5L lens.

[Ed Schneider]

WOW! I see no room for improving this image. I'm sure most folks would like some more room around the bird, but to get this close to this guy you have to show the detail! I would have sat for three DAYS to get an image like this :)

Bravo!

ps- I've never noticed how small the feet were on this bird

[Don Anderson]

What a thrill, I had a similiar experience a year ago without the fish shot however.
A little more room, but excellent capture.

[Desmond Chan]

Wow, very sharp and detailed ! You may want to consider tuning down the white areas just above the chest area though. Not sure if you could recover any details there since some are above 250 in RGB values. Great capture nonetheless and your efforts have certainly paid off !!

[Sinh Nhut Nguyen]

Stunning, this is perfect for me. I like the close up shot of this guy, really nice heand angle and eye contact.

[Gal Shon]

Superb capture,
A little bit tight at the bottom.
Is this a big crop?

[Adrian David]

Superb capture! I only wish for a little more sharpening on the bird...Just a little...

[Jasper Doest]

Sharpness and detail look really impressive...very well done. However, I do think this is too large in frame for my taste. If you decide to go in tight, I'd try to get it even tighter, and if you decide to show the full bird, you might want to show a bit more empty space...just a thought.

[Aidan Briggs]

I'm with Jasper on this one. The bird is way too big in the frame. The toes are almost clipped off at the bottom. As for the whites near the neck, you might try reconverting using the recovery slider if you use ACR. The rest of the whites look great. Also I would prefer to see the head more parallel to the sensor plane, although it works pretty well as it is.

[Filomena Larson]

Wow! Capturing this species alone this sharp is fantastic. With the fish it is over the top. When you have an image this sharp I tend to go with a close crop almost because "you can" with yours I would add a little room if you have it.

[EdNguyen]

What a shot! I love it. The photo looks great as is to me. The white on the neck looks a little hot, though.

[Jamie Strickland]

wow what a pic, this makes me want to go stake out the 2 in my back pond :) I agree that toning down the whites a little would help bring out some more detail

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I don't know why but something tells me that this image could look fine if you crop on the bottom (perch and fingers)
Love the clarity and BG. The fish on beak is a real bonus. Thanks for sharing.

[Edward Fisher]

Thanks for all the nice comments and suggestions.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I wish only that this had more room at the bottom, but the level of detail, the great light, exposure, colors, natural moment and sharpness are preety stunning iMO.
Congratulations!