Pied Kingfisher (My 1st post)

[Hendri Venter]

I created this image in late afternoon sunlight. Mankwe Hide, Pilansberg.

Canon EOS-1D MK III + 300 F2.8 L IS
Focal Lenght 300mm
1/2000 sec
F5.6
ISO 1600

[Ajit Huilgol]

Welcome to BPN, Hendri, and a lovely image to start off with as well!

[Randy Stout]

Hendri:

A big welcome to BPN. Excellent first image, with great sense of anticipation, ready to dive. Wing,head position fine. Well composed. I like that he is at the end of the perch. Open beak a plus.

I do notice a faint black area along the upper edge of the wings, and don't know if this is post processing or in the background. There is also a bit of a halo along the top of the head and back.

You have captured the afternoon light well, have retained the feel. My first thought was that the image was too dark, but in checking the histogram, the whites are right where they should be.

Congrats on this nice one.

Randy

[Raymond Barlow]

wonderful image., unusual pose, but extremely well captured.

[Hendri Venter]

Thank you for commenting Ajit, Randy and Raymond. Randy I totally agree with the halo. I had a look at the origonal RAW image and the black cast along the the upper edge of the wing is there as well. Maybe a good idea to blend it with the brown.

[Bill Jobes]

Welcome, Hendri! And thank you for such a stunning first image.

I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to try to bring out more detail in the darker feather areas, especially on the top of the head.

What you see here is a gentle manipulation of your fine photo, using the Shadow/Highlight adjustment in PS 3.

Please let me know what you think of this version.

[Randy Stout]

Bill:

The dark feathers are showing more detail now, but the whites have gone quite muddy to my eye.
Perhaps a selective lightening of the dark areas.

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Hendri, welcome to BPN. Super comp, and I like the pre-take off pose. This is sharp and well exposed, and all against a lovely BG. I would maybe try and lighten the eye.

[Hendri Venter]

No problem Bill. Yes the blacks does show more detail specially between the wings. I agree with Randy's suggestion.

[Hendri Venter]

Thanks Stu. Will work on the brightness of the eye.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Hendri,

Another big welcome to BPN. I think this is a very nice image. Pose, background, and perch are are pleasing to me. I second Randy's suggestion of selectively lightening the dark areas bit. Well done and thanks for sharing.

[Keith Bauer]

Nice image. Great pose and sharpness with a very pleasing background. Welcome

[Joe Senzatimore]

Welcome and what a great way to start. I love everything about this image. IMHO the original looks better than the re-worked image. Look forward to more fine captures from you.

[Thomas Finnie]

Superb image Hendri. The position of the bird is fantastic and the lighting is splendid as well.

Bill - Nice job bringing out the highlights in the dark feather areas. This enhances the image greatly.

Randy - Great suggestion of selectively lightening the dark areas. How do you do that? (I'm new here and if I am not supposed to ask these questions, please let me know.)

Stu - How do you lighten the eye? Again, please let me know if I am off limits asking these questions.

Nice image Hendri ... keep up the good work!

[denise ippolito]

Welcome to BPN, Really nice image. I like the unique pose and the details look good. Good advice already given.

[David Fletcher]

Welcome to BPN Hendri... :D. Cracking first post and in such wonderful warm light. Prefer the original post: (OP)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Henri! Very nice first post, I particularly like the pose, BG and light. I agree on toning down the whites and removing the S/H halo. This might work better in your RAW file by adjusting curves and contrast. Keep them coming!

[Tony Whitehead]

Welcome, Hendri. All the points have been covered. Superb first post - looks like Pilansberg. Love the pose, perch and BG. Looking forward to more.
Thomas, the Educational Resources forum should have plenty to interest you - see Robert Amoruso's articles on contrast and tonal adjustments http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=20434
In this situation to lighten the darks I would use a shadow highlight adjustment with fairly gentle shadow settings and no highlight adjustment - I would apply it to a new layer of the image and then mask it only to the areas I want with a layer mask

[Doug Brown]

Welcome to BPN Hendri! I must say that I prefer the exposure in the OP, but I do agree about the halo and the dark area above the wing. I like the eye contact, open bill, and gnarled perch. The light is quite nice. Look forward to more of your posts!

[Brian Barcelos]

Welcome Hendri, This is a great first post and I love the birds posture. All hte bases have been covered. Can't wait to see more. Congrats

Brian

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Welcome to BPN Hendri. Great first post. Lile the posture & typical Mankwe BG. Ditto halo, but still a fine image. Well done!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Welcome:-) Love the posture, light and sharpness. Background is beautiful as well! May use a very subtle dodge tool to bring out the detail in the blacks on the forehead?

[Elmar Venter]

Well done, Hendri. Superb posture, sharpness and background. Almost unbelievable that this was so close at 300mm. Keep them coming, mr. Venter!

[Danny Laredo]

Wonderful pose and light. I prefer the original post to the re-post.

[Hendri Venter]

Thanks for all the nice welcome messages and constructive comments and advice. Very much appreciated.

[arash_hazeghi]

Love the action and composition, great BG and perch, bird is somewhat dark overall though, time for some shadow adjustment

[Harshad Barve]

Big welcome to BPN and fantastic image to start with
looking forward to see more from you
TFS

[Hendri Venter]

Thanks Arash and Harshad. Your comments appreciated.

[Morkel Erasmus]

only saw your first post now - top shot sir! Bill's repost looks good - now you just need to lose the halo :)