Kingfisher

Over the last three weeks I have been given access to an area of the river Trent that passes through a private bit of land not to far from my home in Staffordshire.The area has a pair of Kingfishers that have rarely been seen let alone photographed,so most days I have sat in my hide,hidden from view,hours and hours have passed by,with the odd head roll as I fell a sleep, watching this pair up and down the river,giving me fly-bys,refusing to use the perch I had sighted for them.The back ground is a dark one,made up from the remains of an old bridge they use as a perch to watch the river.Spending some much time has allowed me to watch these birds,their behaviour,how low they fly to the water and just how well their amazing colours blend into this habitat of fast-flowing water.I have had no luck over the last 14 months with these birds so being so close has been amazing.Captured this Kingfisher just about to 'Down In One' this fish.

All Comments And Advice Welcome

Nikon D3S
Nikon 600VR
F5.6,1/300
iso 2000,-0.7ev
Spot Metering
PP- Nikon Capture NX2,CS3,Full Frame.
Hide/Camo Net Used,Perch Placed By Myself

Thanks For looking

Great shot Craig , the background really brings the bird out.

Oscar

Here is another that I have but drawn between which one to post.Kingfisher posing in the rain

Hi Craig,

Great to see you have found a Kingfisher spot this good! Wonderful images and i love the dark BG's.
Both are juvenile females however (see the red underbill and dark feet).

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

Thanks Jeroen,she has settled into this spot really well and such beautiful birdss.I love their feet remind me of orange socks

Great shots Craig great to see you have found your kingfishers, good luck on getting some more

I like both images Craig but there is something about the second which makes it more pleasing to look at and I don't know why!

Craig there both excellent but the second just tips the scales for me.

Keith.

2 very good images Craig.
Well done.

Geoff.

Both attractive kingfishers Craig but i think the perch makes the second posting a better image IMO.

Nice shots...but feel overall the second one is best in this post. Looking forward to seeing more from the project and seeing some in frames at Rutland next year.

Ian

Good Kingfisher shots which are all the craze at the moment. I have to say though that they look a bit dark and harsh on my gear, which has just been calibrated.
I agree the dark background does emph. the colour but I am not sure if it suits.
Cheers
JohnR

Craig

Two cracking shots and your effort well rewarded.

Nice work Craig - glad to hear you're having some success with the species but beware - they can become quite addictive

Jeff

Two good kingfisher images, Craig. I especially like the dark BGs to emphasise the subjects, not everyone's taste though.

These are just stunning shots, Craig. Love the black background and the mossy perch. Love the rich colours too.Thanks for sharing how you achieved thee shots.
Rosie

Thank you folks for your kind and helpful comments and fully understand people liking or not liking the dark BG.There are a few more images on my blog and one shows you this dark BG and the perches where put in the foreground on the distant shot you see of the KF,giving a natural,dark effect,where I used Spot Metering to meter for the light/bird only.Many thanks

Fabulous images Craig you lucky devil

Ron

Very nice Craig

I like the dark background

Hello Craig

They are very very nice kingfisher shots and now you have them in the can, but if I dare say that you really need to look at the processing side of your photography. Kingfishers are not this colour and so I think you need to look at mastering this side of the digital photography now because it is so important. It took me a while to work this out myself and I am no expert far from it but you will notice that a lot of guys on here that know their processing haven't said anything but now that I have said they might pick up on it. Just my thoughts Craig nothing personal.

Danny

Hi Danny
Thank you for your advice always welcome and have never taken it personal. I dont know where to start lol. The perches where sighted with the dark BG,the light was from my 2 o'clock right the way round until 10 o'clock providing light on the perch most of the time which was ideal for bringing out the birds colours,detail and so on,upon looking on the Raw files the colours in the KF are strong already and in processing I may have 'cooked' them.I calibrate my screen every 2-3 weeks with a eye-one display 2 at the following Gamma-2.2,Colour 6500k,Luminance 110-112 cdm2 and make this a part of my routine even though processing is the least liked thing I do . I think I may rush through my processing that is not great, having learned this from scratch,when really I should give it as much thought and time as I put into the photographing side.I always put on every post 'All Comments And Advice Welcome' as this is a forum which I post on to learn,help others,so lets hope people may put me right now you have brought it up Danny as I can only ask .Many thanks

Hello Craig

I struggled for years to get my processing skills upto scratch and I am still struggling with certain situations like snow scenes, white bird/white background. I have took advice from people on this forum like Phil Hurst, Andy Astbury and Tom Wylie and eventually it sunk in. You have overcooked these images with saturation and contrast and so need to look at them again. I once said to you it is all about the light and the light has done you no favours this time but no doubt you will go back and try again, so turn it into a project and that way you will get the best out of the situation. Kingfishers are great birds so you should have a lot of fun in the process.

Danny