Pied Kingfisher on Golden Pond

[Morkel Erasmus]

Yet another image from our foray on a little boat onto a small pond to photograph kingfishers the other day.

This one is a considerable crop, probably only 30% of the original image. Taken at ISO-3200.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 160mm
f5.0 @ 1/2500 SS @ ISO-3200
Shutter priority
Auto ISO
Exposure Bias +0.3

[Doug Brown]

Looks good Morkel. A couple of stray water droplets that I'd remove, and I'd probably darken the pupil a bit. I've played around with high ISO in good light with the 7D too. It's not a bad way to go if you're looking for some room for faster shutter speeds or more DOF.

[Rafael Rodriguez Mojica]

Very nice shot. The noise is remarkably low considering the high iso and cropping. Did you use a noise reducing program during editing?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Doug & Rafael

I only applied noise reduction on the background - I think 2 rounds...

[Stu Bowie]

Good flying posture with the forward wings, and his catch a bonus. Good job with high ISO too. I should experiment with a very high ISO and see what I get.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Well done given the high crop and ISO! Posture and light is superb:) The eye looks slightly strange, maybe darken it a bit?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Stu & Chris...

here is one with the eye darkened

[Austin Thomas]

Hi Morkel,

I prefer the darker version. Great action and use of the camera settings.

Cheers

Austin

[John Wright]

Excellent shot, Morkel! I, too, prefer the version with the eye darkened.

[Colin Knight]

Another vote for the repost, Morkel. Love the wing position, here....just love it.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
I guess I need to get on a plane now.....while the birds will be second......this one may superceede a landscape! I am a big fan of dark BG's.......and not too picky in post in avain.....so super pose and wing position....as always, stuff in mouth always puts this up a notch in my book!

[Bruno Calha]

Good flying postur. Excellent moment

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the comments Bruno, Roman, Colin, John and Austin!