I took this a couple weeks ago. I usually capture at least half a dozen kingfisher shots on each boat outing and most end up in the trash bin. This is a large crop and by no means perfect, but i didn't think it was half bad considering these little buggers are so hard to photograph. Would love your opinion. Thanks.
Nikon D7000 Nikon 300mm 2.8 with 2.0 tc
ISO 600, f 6.3, 1/2000 Manual exposure
HH from boat
They are hard to photograph Cathy and this is a good effort. Despite the shutter speed I can see some motion blur- did you pan with the bird? Also 600mm hand held from a boat is a tall order to obtain ultimate image quality. The wing angle shows the patter on the top of the wing very well.
Cathy - nice colors and I agree with John about the wing pattern. The bird seems to be angled slightly away from you and I also see some motion blur. I'm not sure if selectively sharpening the head a bit more would help. Always tough to get great shots from a boat.
good catch Cathy, a favorite target for me, but this is much better than any i've caught in flight. do you have the NIK filters for CS5 yet? the detail extractor in Color Efex 4 followed by sharpening does a great job of coaxing the best possible sharpness out of dark colored subjects
Any Kingfisher picture is better than mine, I have none. John hit the critical issues motion blur and lack of sharp detail. When you combine HHing at 600MM in a boat and the subject is flying this is a tough position to deliver a quality image - not to mention the large crop.
I bet you had a blast can you tell me where you were. I have not seen 6 in my life and fully understand if you want to keep it a secret as well.
Thank you all for your feedback. I will try putting the image in Nik detail extractor and a bit more sharpening, but it's not an image I'd print. I was just surprised to get a kingfisher in flight that wasn't terrible. These birds are found in the marshes and even in residential backyards of homes on the Intracoastal Waterway in SE NC. If you are ever in my neck of the woods Jeff, my husband and I would be happy to take you along on one of our bird finding boat rides.
Kingfisher in Flight
