I have been lead a merry dance during the past three years trying to capture this species.
Almost on our door step on Hwy 77 two Belted Kingfishers sit on a power line the line is not photogenic I know. So many times I've tried and failed light wind subject facing the wrong direction even flight shots. Shot from road bridge concrete edge.Bridge
Canon 1D3 canon 800mm ISO800 f/8.0 1/2000sec almost all the eights.
RAW to lightroom then PS4 to resize to post.
Just to capture one alive is challenge enough. I have tried and tried, but never gotten close enough to get a clean image of one of these remarkable birds. I love to watch them hover and then dive suddenly into the water to catch a fish. It is high drama, but hard to capture.
Was the powerline close to a body of water? I have often seen kingfishers use such high perches to watch for fish surfacing. Saves energy!
Did you run any noise reduction on the image? Looks pretty clean for a cropped image shot at ISO 800. Then again, at ISO 800 the 1D3 probably produces less noise than does my 40D. Also, do you have a 1.4x TC to use with the 800mm? The 1D3 would still AF at f/8 without any appreciable loss of image quality. The resulting 1120mm x 1.3 crop factor of the 1D3 would give you an effective length of 1456mm. I feel certain you would be pleased with the results.
Very nice Barry. Congratulations on capturing your elusive nemesis. A fine looking shot. Did you get the help you were seeking awhile back with the 1D3 settings?
I'll try the 1.4 TC and see what it produces. No noise reduction at all my PP skills are very limited.
Wayne, I'm attending Scott's classes and also Daniel pointed me towards Arti Morris website. He explains the settings he uses on the 1D3 and boy that has made a whale of a difference. With over 2000 combinations little wonder it becomes a mystery.
Discussion
4 repliesAlmost on our door step on Hwy 77 two Belted Kingfishers sit on a power line the line is not photogenic I know. So many times I've tried and failed light wind subject facing the wrong direction even flight shots. Shot from road bridge concrete edge.Bridge
Canon 1D3 canon 800mm ISO800 f/8.0 1/2000sec almost all the eights.
RAW to lightroom then PS4 to resize to post.
Critique Comments Advice most welcome.
Was the powerline close to a body of water? I have often seen kingfishers use such high perches to watch for fish surfacing. Saves energy!
Did you run any noise reduction on the image? Looks pretty clean for a cropped image shot at ISO 800. Then again, at ISO 800 the 1D3 probably produces less noise than does my 40D. Also, do you have a 1.4x TC to use with the 800mm? The 1D3 would still AF at f/8 without any appreciable loss of image quality. The resulting 1120mm x 1.3 crop factor of the 1D3 would give you an effective length of 1456mm. I feel certain you would be pleased with the results.
Thanks for sharing.
I'll try the 1.4 TC and see what it produces. No noise reduction at all my PP skills are very limited.
Wayne, I'm attending Scott's classes and also Daniel pointed me towards Arti Morris website. He explains the settings he uses on the 1D3 and boy that has made a whale of a difference. With over 2000 combinations little wonder it becomes a mystery.
So CSNP came to the rescue thanks guy's.