I know I’ve been posting a lot of kingfisher photos lately but as I’ve said in the past I can only post what I shoot.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is our old friend, the male Belted Kingfisher I’ve photographed several times in the mountains recently. Here I caught him in full flight not long after he left his perch to dive on a fish five days ago.
I was happy to get him as sharp as I did and I like the position of his right wing, his partially open bill and the light on the bird. The background’s busy but it’s far enough behind the bird and soft enough that I think it provides a welcome glimpse of typical habitat more than it distracts from the bird.
My biggest gripe about the image is the squarish composition. I’m not a fan of square crops but in this instance I didn’t have enough room on the left side of the frame to crop it any other way and still have the bird in an acceptable position in the frame.
But I can live with it.
Ron
Looks great, looking on my phone I didn’t notice the size crop.
Caching up on things, been busy, baby bird season is here!
I can imagine how busy you’ve been, April.
Like everyone else I didn’t notice the crop. I was focused on the stealth bomber. And grateful that you have been seeing a lot of this beauty lately.
“Like everyone else I didn’t notice the crop”
I guess I’ve gotta stop pointing stuff like that out… 🙂
It is interesting to me how hard they are to see! I’m always delighted to see yours.
They’re also hard to get close to, Arwen. Good thing they’re as noisy as they are – otherwise I’d probably almost never find them.
I can’t believe that you got this quick bird in such great focus and compostion against a detailed background. Exceptional depth of field with such a fast shutter speed. Congrats
Thanks very much, Kent. I’ve been lucky with them in flight recently. About time, I went years without getting any decent kingfisher flight shots.
You can only post what you shoot; we can only view what you post. That’s working out pretty good for me. A person could get to look forward to seeing this guy everyday.
Lyle, the last two times I’ve looked for him he’s been a no-show, including this morning.
Like the others, I didn’t notice the square crop because the bird is so intense. He looks like a little fighter plane divebombing his target with laser-focused precision. Feeling a little sorry for the fish he has in *his* viewfinder.
“He looks like a little fighter plane divebombing his target with laser-focused precision”
That’s a pretty accurate description, Marty. Not many other birds seem to have their intense focus when they’re after prey.
As the others my focus was on the kingfisher and the 3-D effect of this photo…not on the crop. Even with the business of the background it is so muted that is does not interfere with the bird for me. Love it!
You’re right, Kathy. There is a 3-D aspect to the photo that I hadn’t noticed.
Wonderful shot, Ron. I also didn’t notice the square crop – bird was quite compelling. 🙂 Like the bill being part way open and he’s obviously “focused”. 🙂
Judy, I’m probably over-sensitive to square crops. Can’t help myself…
Ron – eyes were fixed on the perfect shot of your beautiful Kingfisher and honestly did not notice that is was cropped square. He has really become quite comfortable with your presence. Love the open beak – he is ready to grab that fish he is concentrated on.
Thanks, Everett. I don’t remember if he caught the fish. Or not.
Beautiful photograph Ron. While I would generally agree with you about square crops, I looked at the photograph first and focused on the bird and hadn’t thought about the crop until I read your comments.
Thanks, David. I always notice square crops and wish the composition was different but I usually don’t think they’re image killers. This one doesn’t bother me too much.