Half-collared Kingfisher

[Chris van Rooyen]

I was fortunate to have a tame individual of this rather elusive species in the camp this week during a trip to Wilderness National Park in the Western Cape. I removed several distracting branches in the background.

Camera Model: NIKON D3S
Date/Time: 2010:06:24 16:38:48
Shutter speed: 1/640 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 2800
Lens: 500mm with 1.4X
Focal length: 700mm

[Loukie Viljoen]

Good one Chris, BG very good, head angle eye contact excellent, exposure very good, you are sure a traveling man, Loukie

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks Loukie, indeed I live out of a suitcase;)

[Axel Hildebrandt]

What a beautiful bird! Sharpness, head angle and BG look very good. The lower part of the branch is not perfect but I don't find it too distracting.

[Craig Brelsford]

Yes, a beautiful kingfisher, and one I'm not familiar with, making the photo even more special. Your use of ISO 2800 noted. Must be great to have so much ISO freedom.

[Ofer Levy]

Light, sharpness, detail and over all image quality are mind blowing! Pitty about the oof perch but still an outstanding image.

[Stu Bowie]

Super pose for this elusive character Chris, and you have exposed the colours perfectly. Sharp, and stands out nicely against the darker BG.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Tack sharp with great detail & natural colours. Like the HA & catchlight. Great one Chris!:)

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Chris,
I feel cropping this off the bottom to the v of the branch on the right.....would eliminate any distractions for me.......but just ask Artie about my love of the crop tool.....so take that with a grain of salt! I will ask.....even if it looks great....why ISO 2800? I am not afraid of high ISO's but given that you were at 1/640 SS.....why not dump some of it and lower the ISO? Windy?
More of a curiousity as I feel the image is outstanding!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Thanks for the comments guys, appreciated! Roman, this was actually taken in the very last rays of the sun, the ambient light was pretty feeble. I wanted the DoF, therefore I opted for f/8 and did not worry too much about the ISO, because the D3s is up to the job. Being at 700mm, I tried to keep the SS reasonably high to avoid any camera shake.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Thanks Chris! Just want others to know how top notch photogrpahers think!

[Morkel Erasmus]

that D3s sure rocks at high ISO's...if I had the cash... ;)

lovely sharp crisp shot Chris - love the colours and details especially given the techs.

[Mark Dumbleton]

Opportunity very well used Chris! Superb light and detail!