Kingfisher IV

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi folks ... from last winter , location was almost in the center of a town not toooo far from home .
The KF coming upstream to participate from the warm springs of the river , so they can get easier food .
The numbers of KF are varying from year to year , sadly I have discovered this only in the beginning of 2024 .Nonetheless it was fun to see them downtown ...
The bird is not baited ....

Canon EOS R 3
RF 400 4,8 IS L + 2x TC
HH

F 5,6 ; Iso 25.600 ; 1/1000 sec

DOF a bit short .... but time of the pose was limited and I did not want to risk motion blur , so I kept the techs as described

Processed with DT 4.7.0 and PSCC 2024 ; slight crop and removal of two sticks

THanks fro looking and commenting to my previous postings

Cheers Andreas

[Brian Sump]

Andreas, we've seen this species a fair amount but it doesn't really get old.

That said, the snowy perch on this one is super sweet. Love it.

Fantastic angle of the head and eye and the dinner in the mouth is great. Colors on the subject and detail all look very nice.

Perhaps you can take a look at +6 warmth and then pulling the blues out of the snow. See what you think as it feels just a little bit subdued on the colder side.

TFS, would love to shoot this species!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Brian glad you like it ...
I hear you about the color , my intention was to keep it on the colder side .... as I had the image warmer in the beginning and did not like it . So I would rather keep it my way , but understand your point of going a bit warmer .

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice to have the fish and I like the HA, but there's not enough distance between BKG/Subject, and so with limited DoF and super smooth backdrop it all just jars/fights a bit with me. BKG are always tricky and can make or break an image, however with the hefty blacks areas looking slightly posterised and fuzzy they tend to draw the eye IMHO, so it's not really working overall for me. Saying that I binned a whole days shoot with the KF's because of the backdrop last month.

The perch could be better and could be changed if access was easy. The whites of the snow have a blue tinge which is surprising, think it would help if it was removed/reduced.

I appreciate this is in town with limited options, but its not a keeper for me.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Steve for your feedback ... would agree that it might be not the hottest BKG on planet earth and the dark blotches are less than ideal , my fault , should have addressed that in post . The blues in the snow ... well matter of taste ... but could easily addressed , I was thinking about to make it more neutral but let them in for the time being . The smooth BKG is natural ....

That said , I would disagree to bin the image ... the BKG does not break the image IMHO and the perch is completely natural and not arranged as at a set up , so definitely no point for . It is by nature a totally different way of shooting kingfishers .... and making the possible best out of it is key here and not comparable to set up shooting . You as a neutral viewer see it differently , fair enough . I have even more images with even busier natural settings .... and I do think they are more exciting to look at , than the sterile settings I have shot the KF . Pretty boring at times !!!! So I rather accept a natural way of shooting AT TIMES , not generally . All settings have their interest , just in different ways .... just my take . If you feel you need to bin this kind of shot .... well go for it .

BTW .... i am surprised to hear that you , as an experienced photographer , took images the whole day not realizing the BKG issues ..... finally deleting the whole day . Well we all work differently

Cheers Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image plain and simple, it looks natural and believable. The blue tint in the snow - particularly bottom right is apparent. A few people have mentioned this and I recall seeing this phenomenon in a kestrel on a stone wall when it was frosty. I am now not too sure what to say about it, I presume it was there otherwise it would not have been recorded...or is it a result of digital capture?? I don't know - I suspect it was there and would not have been noticed when taking the image. I can see the point of "correcting" the blues because we would usually expect snow to be white. Is there a right or wrong??
The background looks like snow on ivy and I would not expect to see it in any other way, the subject from my point of view stands out well from the background which is soft.
Maybe it is me who is out of kilter with most people and I am more accepting of backgrounds.
Coming back to the Kingfisher details and colours look ideal, the DOF is perhaps not ideal but I would have to confess I would be happy if it were mine.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thanks Jon ... glad you like it .
Regarding the blues or cold appearance in the snow or the BKG in general ... is quite simple to explain and not a phenomenon as you say . It does all come down to the natural light and the chosen WB/ color grading in post production .
The shot was taken early morning with " cold winter light " in the shade , so I would expect it to be cool . In camera WB was auto , so the image will be really cool .... everything afterwards is down to me and my tastes or skills to identify the " problem " and leave it or remove it , actually quite simple . If I would have photographed the scene in analog times with my beloved Fuji Films .... you might have cried .... as the whole scene would be very cold and blueish way stronger than now in digital times , where we have full control over tone and color.
The limited DOF is just a result of the given lighting .... unless I stopped down with the risk of ending up with a blurry KF .

THX again Andreas