Female Belted Kingfisher

[Wes Aslin]

I decided to post my first image after lurking here for several months.

This beautiful female Belted Kingfisher decided to declare her pleasure after downing a fish. Thanks for the CC.

D300s Nikkor 300mm F/4 AF/S with TC-14EII
1/2000sec. ISO900 F/7.1 Manual Exposure Handheld

[David Gancarz]

Glad you took the plunge. You won't regret it. I like the open bill, the slight tilt of the head, and the graduated sky color -- along with the very nice comp, sharpness and exposure. The oof red spot in front of the breast is a little distracting. At ISO 900 there is no noise that I can see.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

welcome aboard. I think you nailed the exposure here. Liked the placement of the bird in the frame and the head tilt. Good call on aperture.

[Paul Kusmin]

Sweet shot Wes, and glad to see you posting here :)

Wonderful muted colour pallete and nice detail and pose.
Love the open bill and head turn.

I might crop a bit off the top.

[Myer Bornstein]

Like it but would clone out the bright red spots they are somewhat distracting

[Wes Aslin]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It's great to have multiple sets of fresh and talented eyes helping me with the edits. I'm going to clone those red spots in the BG out for sure.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Nice! I would love to have a kingfisher image in my files.
Like the head turn and open beak. Red spot mentioned.
I feel that a tighter crop would look better, but not sure.

[Tim Rucci]

Welcome to BPN, Wes.

Sweet shot, and nice head angle. I've never gotten close enough to one of these elusive birds to get a decent shot. I'd be really pleased with this one. Congrats.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome aboard Wes!! Awesome and dynamic pose on this beautiful gal. I love the slight droop of the wings revealing a bit of the primaries. The great HA and open bill are nice touches. Good composition and techs. The red spot definately needs to go, glad you will be taking care of that. I'm not crazy about the two vertical branches behind the subject, nor the blunt (broken) endings to the others but this is an image I'd love to have in my files! Hoping to see more from you....:)

[RAM MALLYA]

Wow what a sharp shot with a lovely BG

[Steve Large]

Hey Wes,
Like the lighting and the detail on the bird. If it is within your ethics, I might be tempted to get rid of the two vertical branches as they kind of draw the eye.

Steve