Belted Kingfisher (female)

[Julie Brown]

This image has a number of problems due to equipment and skill limitations. I have done all I know how to do with it and was hoping to get some suggestions to make it more acceptable. It is my first sighting of a kingfisher. It was flying back and forth across the water and came to rest in the trees briefly. I will post two poses here. Both of them are from a huge crop because of the distance from the bird.

Canon 40D, 300mm f4L IS + 1.4x TC, focal length 420mm, ISO 320, f5.6, 1/1000sec,
0 EV, pattern metering, no flash, manual mode, HH, 12.46MB RAW file

PP: LR 2.6
crop
custom WB
exposure adjustment: set black and white points, highlight recovery, fill light
enhance clarity and vibrance
tone curve: bring down highlights, lights, darks, bump up shadows
sharpening, NR, post-crop vignette
adjustment brush: brought down whites on neck and breast

[Julie Brown]

Belted kingfisher (female) pose 2

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Julie

For these is best to keep as record images but working on huge crops will be frustrating for you. ... btw only one picture per thread but can re post the same if following suggestions.

The second posted should not be a difficult fix, just enlarge the image for more accurate results and clone the branch by the head. Could also to the one by the tail for practice but does not bother me as much !! .... btw this is one little guy I don't have a single posting image !!! ... call him the evil bird :)

[Harold Davis]

great suggestions by alfred. one of my favorite birds and i dont have one keeper!!!

[Julie Brown]

Sorry for posting two images. Thanks for the suggestions. I will work on this again since I need more practice with the clone tool. I am glad that I got this photo, this is a spectacular bird!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Julie I just see these birds whizzing by where I live. I would need the Hubble to even get close to one. I guess the only way to get close is to go to a set up where they already have a blind site up. Too bad they weren't a little sharper, but I think they are very nice base images.

[Julie Brown]

Jackie, this was taken in Oak Mountain State Park outside Pelham, AL. When this bird finally perched in the tree I was so excited. I wish they were sharper too (notice the f5.6?), but I'm happy to have seen it.

[Lance Peters]

Hi Julie - good advice above - looking forward to seeing more.

[Peter Farrell]

I would be thrilled with this shot if it were mine. I am also a member of the "wish I could get a decent KF image" club. I see them on a regular basis but as of yet no real keeper.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Peter. Although this image has its problems I like it. I don't see them in my area. It is a keeper for me until (or if) I get a better one. Notice I didn't post this on the avian forum?

[Julie Brown]

Hi Julie

The second posted should not be a difficult fix, just enlarge the image for more accurate results and clone the branch by the head. Could also to the one by the tail for practice but does not bother me as much !! .... btw this is one little guy I don't have a single posting image !!! ... call him the evil bird :)

Alfred,
I took the image into Photoshop Elements and used the clone tool to remove all of the small, distracting branches. I don't believe my effort is good enough to repost as a photo, so I texturized it in the filter gallery and will post it in the OOTB forum.

Thanks to all who have looked and commented!

[arash_hazeghi]

Can you post the full frame for these?

[Julie Brown]

Arash, not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the image size? I am still struggling with that when I resize.:confused:

[arash_hazeghi]

Arash, not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the image size? I am still struggling with that when I resize.:confused:

can you post the entire photo without cropping? just resize the whole frame to 1024 pixels and post.

[Julie Brown]

OK-full frame repost:eek:

[arash_hazeghi]

Hey Julie,
Thanks doe posting, as Al mentioned this is a very tight crop and hard to pull out a good quality image, next time try to get a bit closer if possible or use a 2X TC converter. The crop still looks good given how tight it was :)

[Julie Brown]

Arash, even from that distance, you can see what a pretty bird it is. Fortunately, it did choose the best perch on that branch. I was up on a road when I saw the bird, so if I had tried to get closer I would have had to go down a hill. I didn't think I had time to get closer. Hope I get another chance at a kingfisher!:D

I just got a 2x TC. :) I will definitely have to practice with it, although I will need good light.