Common Kingfisher

[P-A. Fortin]

I have just returned from a trip to France in the Bordeaux area for work (!). Prior to my departure, I found about the "Le Teich birding park" near Arcachon. Needless to say this was more than enough for me to book a car for the weekend and pack my gear. It really is an amazing place. I wish we had such parks dedicated exclusively to birding in my area.

At the end of the day, I arrived at the last spotting station. There were already about 5-6 photographers there, all of them with their 20k+ gear, spotting a Common Kingfisher which had been on and off for about 30 minutes. At some point it landed on a branch and remainder still for about 2 minutes, which gave everyone quite alot of time to fill their memory card. Obviously, since I arrived late and since my 100-400 was no match for their equipment, I was not at the best possible spot to get the best possible pictures out of this situation (I was about 15m from the bird at that point).

After the bird left, I started to chat a bit with those guys, telling them I was from Canada, etc... I showed them a few pictures of North American backyard birds (Blue Jay, Rose-breasted grosbeak, goldfinch, etc..) I had on my memory card, etc... Then the Kingfisher returned to the same exact spot. One of the photographers removed his 1d Mark IV from his 400 f/2.8 +2x and told me "Here, get yourself a nice souvenir from France".

You bet I did (along with 2 bottles of wine, obviously).

Canon 60D with 400mm f/2.8 + TC 2x II
ISO 2000 (!) (The branch was in deep shadows)
F/5.6
1/250

85% crop for reframing, bits of sharpening and saturation

[Ian Cassell]

What a beautiful souvenir! I'll take that any day over an Eiffel Tower pencil sharpener! Excellent IQ considering that high ISO. I love the colors and composition. I might be tempted to clone out that little bit of bird poop on the branch.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

P-A,

What a great story, in this case great memories include more than the pictures. Ian offers good advice, with all the variables nice detail. Given the situation and opportunity afforded, you did well. Was NR applied (could be high ISO). Clean up spot on branch as mentioned above and maybe lighten eye area. Then, frame and hang it with the story narrative included - great conversation piece.

[Kerry Perkins]

P-A, this is spectacular and what a great opportunity you were given! The image is just excellent in every way. A little bit of brightness in the bg behind the bird, but other than that a very nice image indeed. Well done!

[P-A. Fortin]

@Ian: I indeed totally missed the poop on the branch. It is this kind of details that I still fail to notice (I am too focused on the bird). Will try to get rid of it (Which will actually be a good opportunity to finally learn how to use the clone tool. Or in fact any other image processing tool.)


@Jeff: Great memories for sure. I got the photographer's email address and will keep in touch for sure. I promised to send him some more pictures or North American birds. It is funny to see how people from different continents may be amazed by the most common birds on another one. I remember one spotting station where I was taking many shots of an European Robin while every other photographer was aiming the other way at an Eurasian Teal. On the other hand, they were all drooling while I was showing them photographs of birds I have at my feeders on daily basis.

I did apply some NR, I forgot to put it in the list . But I have to admit I was quite impressed with the performance at such high ISO. Prior to this encounter, I would not even consider going higher than ISO 640. It is the photographers there that told me to crank it up to 3200. 2000 was enough though :)

You think it is worth framing? I mean, it is definitely one of my 2 best photographs ever (the other one was taken on the same day, I might actually post it later today or tomorrow), but I am still a beginner so I am a very bad judge of the worthiness of my shots.


@Kerry: I had another shot (well, actually I took 150...) in a very similar position where the bright bg area was much more to the right of the bird. I picked this one because I felt it took the attention away from the bird. You think I should darken the bg, like in a way to increase the contrast between the bird and the background?


Thank you all for the interesting and useful comments. Highly appreciated.

[Kerry Perkins]

P-A, I think a slight reduction in the luminance of that area would make the bird stand out even more and help the image a bit. It is a wonderful capture and I would definitely print it and hang it.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian,

Feel free to post another image from the same setting. This is an educational site with one main purpose, to learn. In this case the photograph is a memory and marks a great day. You experienced the wonder of nature and captured the moment. It will always be with you no mater if it is famed or not. Keep em coming.

I know what you mean about the common birds on North America. People in South America love the Cardinal. I bird seem almost everyday in Nashville.

[P-A. Fortin]

Here is the other shot that I mentioned. As I said, I thought the brighter area of the background took the attention away from the bird.

Also I preferred the bird pose and head angle of the first photo much more interesting.

Yet this is definitely not an ugly photograph :)

[Prasanna Joshi]

Beautiful picutre P-A. And a lovely story behind the shot. Indeed an amazing opportunity you got.
'Am a total beginner and cannot give any comments (at least not original ones ;-) ) on your post. So, agree with both: cloning out the poop-mark on the branch & slight reduction in brightness of the BG. I find the first (original) image you posted quite sharp as compared to the second shot (may be that hasn't undergone sharpening).
Thanks for sharing.
-prasanna