Belted Kingfisher

[Binu John]

Hi All,

I've joined BPN today and this is my first post.

I've been watching this BKF's activities for more than a month and finally decided to photograph her from a hide. Taken on a partly cloudy day.

Canon EOS 40D
Canon 70 - 200mm f/4 L

Settings: Aperture priority; 200mm, 1600 at f/4, ISO 200, EC -2/3
Post processing: Blended some distracting dark/bright spots in the background (upper right); Cropped and Sharpened.

Cheers,
Binu John

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome to BPN, Binu! Very nice first post, I like the sharpness, eye contact and BG. I wish the head were angled a little bit toward you and if it were mine, I would tone down the whites a bit more. Keep them coming!

[Jim Crosswell]

Welcome to BPN. Nice and close for 200mm. I like the sharpness and agree with the whites getting toned down. Look forward to seeing more!

[Dan Busby]

Quite a start Binu! Beautiful composition, background, great sharpness, nice pose. Another vote for toning down the whites.

[Harshad Barve]

Big welocme to BPN Binu , one very beautiful image to start with
TFS

[Malcolm Benn]

sweet shot and at 200mm wow

[Luis Villablanca]

I also like the background, pose and the composition. I wish I could get close to a KF.
I guess next time I'll have to use a hide like you did.

[Raymond Barlow]

very sweet shot, I like the perch a lot, smooth bg, light, etc, and the composition is sweet., congrats, and welcome.

[Binu John]

Axel: Jim: Dan:
Thanks for the comments and advice. I'll tone down the whites.


Harshad: Malcolm: Luis: Raymond:

Thanks! I appreciate your comments.

[Elmar Venter]

Welcome to BPN, Binu. Let me tell you you will never regret joining this super forum. This is a very beautiful picture. Such a sweet bird, nice perch and great background. I must admit I wish I can get so close to kingfishers with a 70 - 200mm! Well done.

[Lorant Voros]

Welcome to BPN,

Very nice image for introducing yourself to this forum. Nice light, sharpness, great BG and it's well exposed. I would also tone down the whites a bit and would prefer the perch being parallel to the sensor and be sharp all over. 200mm, so you must have used a hide. I am looking forward to see more images from you.

[Arthur Morris]

Welcome Binu, And thanks a ton for your membership support. You did well with the light from our right.

Did you set up this perch?

[Binu John]

Thanks Elmar!

Thanks Lorant! Yes, I've used a hide. In that location, there was no way I could setup the hide to get the perch parallel in the frame.

[Binu John]

Thanks Arthur! I'm very excited after seeing your comments.
It's your "Fire in the Mist" photo that inspired me to become a bird photographer.

No, I didn't setup the perch.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Arthur! I'm very excited after seeing your comments. It's your "Fire in the Mist" photo that inspired me to become a bird photographer. No, I didn't setup the perch.

:)

If the bird is not in a refuge or protected area you might consider setting up a more pleasing perch. The natural one is too big for the bird and just plain ugly with all the knots and knobs and stripped bark and broken branches.

[Binu John]

I've done it today. I've used a perch and got a "with fish" shot. I'll be posting it in a few minutes.
Thanks for the suggestion!