King-stretcher

[Craig Brelsford]

Here's another one from the trip to Dongzhai Preserve in Henan, China. The kingfisher is not taking off but merely stretching. What could I have done about those hot white spots?

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Vibration reduction: off (used shutter release cord)
Aperture: F/7.1
Shutter speed: 1/125s
Exposure mode: aperture priority
Metering: center weighted
ISO: less than 200 (Nikon calls it "0.3EV under 200")

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Neat pose and eye contact. You could have dialed in negative exposure compensation, maybe -2/3 or so. You could try to recover the highlights in your RAW converter. I might sharpen the head a bit more and if it were mine, I might remove the diagonal branch 'sticking out' of the bird's back.

[marco peschiera]

Really nice capture, amazing moment !! I think i never saw a kingfisher streching !! And i saw them 200 times...

I think you was quite lucky to get a sharp image in 1/125s of a kingfisher streching... I would use iso 400 and faster time ( like 1/500 )

[Stu Bowie]

Good advice from Axel. Over time, one gets to know your camera, and knowing different species, you will get to know what settings to use. The other way is to shoot away, and if you are a pp boffin, sort it out in processing.;)

[Steve Canuel]

Nice colors and an unusual pose for this bird. I like the dark BG, makes a good contrast with the bird. I'd also remove the stick as it takes away from the lines made by the bird and the main branches.

[Craig Brelsford]

I might remove the diagonal branch 'sticking out' of the bird's back.

I might have thought of that in the field. The kingfisher was very accommodating; I merely needed to shift my position.