Belted Kingfisher

[Danny J Brown]

Taken along a stream near my home. I'd seen kingfishers using this snag before but it was always too thick for me and Yetti (Big White Beast - my 500 F4) to get close enough for a shot. Now that winter has set in I made my way down to the shoreline and waited 45 minutes. I finally heard a rattle and this little guy came along and went through four cycles of catching fish and landing on the snag. I like this straight on shot because it is unique, but I have 53 other shots with different head angles, most with fish. I used various exposures from -1/3 to +2/3 but +1/3 brought out the eyes w/o firing off the highlight alert. Thanks.

Canon EOS 40D; Canon 500/F4L; 1/250; f/4.0; +1/3; ISO 400; Gitzo GT3530LS w/Wimberley II; Aperture Priority; Crop to 8 x 10 aspect ratio

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool capture, I like the head-on look, raised crest, BG and the fish adds to it. It looks as if the fish was still trying to get away. I might have gone to a higher ISO for higher shutter speed.

[Bonnie Block]

Awesome capture, Danny! Great BG, too. My only nit would be a faster shutter.

[Mike Kuran]

Nice Shot Danny! These birds are very elusive! I would also agree with the higher ISO here! I typically don't like the straight on shots but this one shows that little fish is still kicking :) Well Done

Mike K

[Jim Crosswell]

Great shot Danny! The eyes are really add to this image.

[Jason G. Harrison]

Very nice image Danny! To have a spot where they regularly perch so close to home...arghh....some just have the luck! LOL...

As some have said, a higher SS might would have helped some, but either way, good job and TFS.

Jason

[Fabs Forns]

Danny, I love the raised crest and the kicking movement of the fish :)
I'm sure Piper would love to have an encounter with the KF.
You are right that is is an unique pose. I'd run some noise reduction in BG.

[Dan Brown]

Way to go Danny! I know how hard it is to get close to these nervous guys! I too like the HA here! Can't wait to see more!

[Danny J Brown]

Thanks everybody - I don't know why I put ISO 200 in my specs. I rarely ever shoot at 200 anymore. The shot was at ISO 400. I use 800 once in a while but I'm still a little gun shy to go there with my 40D as I don't like to spend any time in PP. Thanks again, my friends. You can see a more conventional shot of this guy at my website, http://dannybrown.smugmug.com under "Photo of the Week."

[denise ippolito]

Danny, Fantastic capture! I love the pose and the perch. The BG is lovely. Agree w/ a faster SS and a bit of NR for BG. But this is an awesome shot!!Congrats!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Danny, I love this for all of the plusses noted above and I sincerely wish that it were mine. However, this image can teach a lot of folks a lot of important things that we sometimes miss in the field so here goes:

#1: Why so centered? (Hard to figure out why nobody above mentioned that...)

#2: I could not stand seeing such a great image with that horrific broken branch coming towards the camera. This the repost.

#3: Here's where I take you to task: in situations like this, you could have made your life tons easier after the bird flew away. You should have taken an image of the branch to the right with approximately the same point of focus and the same exposure. Then you could have broken off the horrific branch; that would have made the repair 26.89 times easier. We all gotta learn to think digitally in the field and that includes me.

BTW, were you in a blind? If not, you are really in big trouble. :)

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Artie:

Thanks for the nice repost with the removal of that horrific branch.:) I tried a lot of different comps and came back to the centered one because it puts the bird's head, fish, etc. over in the right third so its pretty easy on the eye. Regarding the blind, I haven't been using blinds much anymore. I was just in full camo in high weeds. The kingfishers did not seem to mind me at all but the wood ducks would not come within shooting range. I know the kingfishers saw me because they would land over my head and look down at me. Thanks for commenting. This is only the second time I've gotten "Artie Comments" and both times I got a repost. Pretty exciting in my simple world. But don't expect me to be going the extra step on cloning, etc. any time soon. I have a really fantastic job and this is just something I do to enrich my life a little. Take care, Gurugi!!

[Harshad Barve]

Man-o-man, this is absolute show stopper :), Guruji's repost takes this over the top
TFS

[Danny J Brown]

Man-o-man, this is absolute show stopper :), Guruji's repost takes this over the top
TFS

Thanks, HB!

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Danny,

re:

Thanks for the nice repost with the removal of that horrific branch.:)

YAW.

I tried a lot of different comps and came back to the centered one because it puts the bird's head, fish, etc. over in the right third so its pretty easy on the eye.

It does not work at all for me. It is sounding as if you have more room to the right. Is that true? If yes, I would love to see the full frame.

Regading the blind, I haven't been using blinds much anymore. I was just in full camo in high weeds. The kingfishers did not seem to mind me at all but the wood ducks would not come within shooting range.

Still pretty amazing. (I almost never use blinds...)

I know the kingfishers saw me because they would land over my head and look down at me.

You gotta love that.

Thanks for commenting. This is only the second time I've gotten "Artie Comments" and both times I got a repost.

I am shocked by that....

Pretty exciting in my simple world.

:)

But don't expect me to be going the extra step on cloning, etc. any time soon.

No problema.

I have a really fantastic job and this is just something I do to enrich my life a little. Take care, Gurugi!!

Then we have a lot in common; I have a fantastic job too! Will do.

[Mike Fuhr]

Like I told you Danny, Great shot. Composition looks good and the broken branch -- well that's nature and it's neat to see that stuff in contrast of he perfection of the bird. Great job!

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Artie:

Attached is the full-frame shot. The water droplets are from the fish flopping.

[Nancy A Elwood]

Danny this is way cool!! One of my favorite birds and with a fish in its mouth, WOW! Artie's repost with the branches removed does make it OTT for me. Well done!

[david cramer]

Great image, Danny. What a treat to be able to photograph these guys so close!. And Artie's repost is an improvement. I'd blur out the branches in the bg more.

[Varun Bellie]

OMG, what a bird and what a fabulous shot , love that look on it's face, the repost works even better. With the catch in its beak this one's a killer image.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Absolutely loved the action you have caught here . Not too particularly disturbed with the branch , but would have liked a higher shutter .

[Kiran Poonacha]

Some nice points covered above, loved the pose here, and the fish adds so well to this..

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

All kingfishers are very cool IMO....this one no exception. Loved the head-on look.well done.

[Raymond Barlow]

hey Danny.. one of the best kf shots i have seen, well done.

Thanks for the full frame image, so I thought I would take a quick crack at it... the jagged broken branch only took about 10 seconds to clone out. I saved this as a 1920 x 1200 x 72 dpi widescreen background, please email me if you want it... ray@raymondbarlow.com

superb image bro!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Just adding my well done! Love the movement of the fish's tail

[James Shadle]

If you are rules of thirds kinda photographer, check this out.
I only cropped a little bit left and bottom.
James

[Danny J Brown]

Hi James - those cross-hairs are right where they belong, where the action is. But I thought Artie was just having a little fun regarding the "why so centered" comment as a follow-up to some of the traffic regarding his recent merganser posting. I'll have to email and ask him. This one sure was fun though! Take care.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi James - those cross-hairs are right where they belong, where the action is. But I thought Artie was just having a little fun regarding the "why so centered" comment as a follow-up to some of the traffic regarding his recent merganser posting. I'll have to email and ask him. This one sure was fun though! Take care.

#1: With your and James crops (which are quite similar) it looks as if a big fat bird has been stuff into the center of a too small frame. I much prefer Ray Barlow's crop. Does that make me right? Of course not; just my opinion.

#2: Though I cannot put it into words, the shape of the frame in your and James' crops just does not fit with the shape and size of the bird for something deep in the artistic portion of my brain (however large or small it might be).

#3: As for the Hooded Merganser head portrait, you are talking apples and oranges. The guidelines/concepts/rules for composing head portraits are totally different than for images that feature the whole bird.

And here's the rub, if 500 folks posted and each agreed that they loved your and James' crop and hated Raymond's, it would not change my opinion one iota :)

[Raymond Barlow]

Its all just subjective, I like all the crops here, I would say mine is best, I am just one to like a more pano style to images, and the widescreen 1920 x 1200 crop is nice, and it fits most monitors these days., which is a practical appication, not artistic.

Any way you cut it, its a cool shot.

[Arthur Morris]

Its all just subjective, I like all the crops here, I would say mine is best, I am just one to like a more pano style to images, and the widescreen 1920 x 1200 crop is nice, and it fits most monitors these days., which is a practical appication, not artistic. Any way you cut it, its a cool shot.

My comment are all made from an artistic viewpoint.

[Danny J Brown]

All I have to say is that this is the most fun a person can have with his pants on!!!! How often do you get a repost from Gurugi #1 and Gurugi #2....and Raymond Barlow ain't too bad either if I say so myself. Thanks again guys.

P.S. I dislike Ray's repost (all that superfluous space) as much as you like it Artie, but he knows I respect his opinion and relish his input as I do yours.