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Thread: Prepared to swallow

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Default Prepared to swallow

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    Another Pied Kingfisher from a few weekends ago, the moment he was about to swallow his breakfast. Unfortunately the weather was very overcast. Taken at my favourite location in the Pilanesberg nature reserve. Im off there tomorrow for another shoot.

    Canon 50D
    100-400 @ 400mm
    1/1250
    F/5.6
    ISO 800

    Manual exposure
    Hand Held

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    BPN Viewer Steve Canuel's Avatar
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    Another beauty of this species Stuart. The gray color of the BG is a nice compliment to the bird and I don't think the overcast conditions hurt this shot at all. Good luck with tomorrow's shoot.

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    Overcast or not, this is awesome. Perhaps you could select the sky and intensify it to bring some blue cast. What a wonderful timing of the shutter and throw of the fish.

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    Brilliant timing here . Nice details and exposure on the bird .

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    A cracker of a shot Stuart, the overcast conditions have really worked in your favour and as Steve said, the BG really compliments things well. Love the detail and perfect timing. I just wonder if there is any detail you could extract in the black band that runs from the eye around the head, just a thought, but would love to have something like this in the vaults.

    Good luck with tomorrow Stuart.

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    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Mike Fuhr
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    Very neat capture. Just wondering bout the fish -- looks old and dried out or is that just the shadows?

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    Excellent timing on this one.

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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Fuhr View Post
    Just wondering bout the fish -- looks old and dried out or is that just the shadows?
    Thanks Mike. This is totally in the wild and not baited at all. The fish was fresh out the water, caught by the kingfisher, bashed against the perch for softening, and you are seeing it going down the hatch.

    Thanks everyone else for the kind words.

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    BPN Viewer Dave Leroy's Avatar
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    As mentioned colours are very complimentary and I really like the nice angle on the Kingfisher.

    Knarly old perch adds a lot as well.

    Well done.

    Dave

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Wonderful shot, Stuart. Great timing. I'm guessing that the overcast actually helped you here. Hope to see more from here.

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    Lovely moment...I always enjoy watching these guys with there catch....Overcast conditions always dissapoint at Mankwe, but you still produced a nice image...Weather is looking good up here. Hope it holds for the morrow(It should) I will try and pop in in the morning for coffee stop...it will be good to catch up!

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    BPN Member Steve Maxson's Avatar
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    Great action captured Stuart! I like the even, overcast light and the gray background works well with this black & white bird. Well done.

  13. #13
    Mike Fuhr
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart Bowie View Post
    Thanks Mike. This is totally in the wild and not baited at all. The fish was fresh out the water, caught by the kingfisher, bashed against the perch for softening, and you are seeing it going down the hatch.

    Thanks everyone else for the kind words.
    Thanks Stuart -- he really did a number on that poor fish! I didn't think they would take a dead fish as bait -- I was just curious. Looks like something I looked at in ichthyology lab.

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    Mike Fuhr
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    And I just noticed all the scales on the perch!

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    Great image Stuart! I like the BG the overcast sky produced. Sharp action image.

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    WOW this is awesome.

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    Excellent image. I like the timing and the background.

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    Sweet image Stuart!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    It sure looks as if the bird beat the heck out of the fish.... Love the moment. Lightening up the dark patch below and behind the eye just a bit might be a good plan. (That said I am posting from the back seat of a car with a coat over the window on a sunny afternoon on the Long Island Expressway on line via a hotspot from my cell phone with the laptop powered by an inverter!) How amazing are these times?
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    Lifetime Member Marina Scarr's Avatar
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    Hi Stuart:

    What an amazing moment you captured here. Love the overcast sky as a BG. It really makes your bird pop. I agree with AM on lighting up the face around the beak and eye just a tad.
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    Lifetime Member Stu Bowie's Avatar
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    Thank you all so much for the kind words. Always appreciated.

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    BPN Viewer Haim Ziv's Avatar
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    Absolutely wonderful shot!

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    Haim, Gary, and Jamie, If you like an image, please let us know why. We do not want to see BPN become just another "Great Shot" forum. We need your help.
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