Woodlands Kingfisher

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone! Finding a quick minute to post something in between intermittent trips and some work left undone.

We just returned from the Northern part of Kruger, and it was amazing. I've never seen the place so lush and green, rains were good this season and many of the rivers that are perpetually dry are overflowing. Wildlife was plenty and so was birdlife - especially our summer visitors.

This woodlands kingfisher put on quite a show for us. I have a lot of images to work through but quickly gave this one the once-over. Conditions were overcast and the bird was in the shade of a huge tree, which made exposure tricky.

Very little processing done here, only slight blending of bright spots in upper right of BG and slight sharpening after resizing. Perch as shot, nothing cloned out. No noise reduction needed.

Techs:
Nikon D300s with 200-400 f4 VR @ 340mm
f4.5 @ 1/500 SS @ ISO-640

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Wonderful species and capture brother. :) Love the colors and the BG. I think this may also work as a vertical.

[Harshad Barve]

Wonderful speices and I so happy to see so many KF's here on BPN
Lovely image , nice BG and pose , I liked this as posted , lovely space around
TFS

ps, Looks like you are enjoying Nikon gear very much;)

[Mital Patel]

morkel this is just awesome image. what a birdie. and with a lush green bg this looks more beautiful. just wish for a round of NR on bg compare to the soft feel of bird i wish that to be to the bg as well.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the overall comp, perhaps a wee bit tighter would be better. Nice colours on this guy, and the deep greens of the BG nicely offset it. Although the HA is not bad, I still would prefer to see it turned a bit more towards us (just a few dwgrees would have been perfect). Nicely done!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for viewing and commenting Daniel, Mital, Akos & Harshadbhai

@ Daniel - I have many poses on this perch and many others, will upload in time :)

@ Mital - I don't see any noise and therefore did not see the need for excessive reduction of noise - will look again on home monitor tonight

@ Akos - I agree, vertical will work as well but wanted to include some space with that sweet BG colour

@ Harshadbhai - I enjoyed it very much...will now have to wait until I have my own (hopefully soon)

[Lorant Voros]

Beautiful Kingfisher; I like the composition and the lovely BG. Perch looks big, but I really like it in this image. Agree with the comment about the HA and looking forward to see more from this series. Very well done.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Nice posture and well done on the exposure!. Personally I would prefer a slightly tighter crop, and perhaps a round of noise reduction on the bg?.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Love the subject color and beautiful Bg. Would like to see it as a vert. as well. Maybe just a bit too much negative space.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

big fan of kingfishers and diagonal elements.....so this one's a winner for me. Two sugggestions I have are toning down the perch and NR on BG. What a spectacular bird !

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Kaustubh, Chris, Joe & Lorant.

I have quickly done a vertical crop, some noise reduction on the BG and toned down the perch slightly.

better?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Morkel....I like the orig comp. noise and perch look better in repost. Thx for sharing.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Stunning image Morkel. Love the wonderful color and detail and as far as the crop goes I personally like both. I do think the second crops puts the subject at a better advantage but there is something about the first that is very pleasing and almost a sense of freedom, Many thanks for sharing.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I will vote for the repost. Great looking KF and pose. I would work a bit on the eye.

[Elmar Venter]

Great work Morkel. I am very jealous. Well done mate! I vote for the original comp. Stunning bird, background, perch.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very beautiful kingfisher. I like the colors and eye contact and the repost is an improvement. I might give it a tad more room at the bottom and increase contrast a few points.

[James Salywoda]

Awesome bird and shot Morkel I like the repost.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the repost better. Great shot!

[Luis Villablanca]

That's a beautiful bird. Nice pose and very good detail.
I also like the repost better.

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic shot of this amazing bird! Awesome techs! I feel you need some more room at the bottom in order to make a nicely balanced vertical.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks very much for the comments everyone...