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romy ocon | all galleries >> Wild Birds of the Philippines (Photos) >> My Favorites >> Stork-billed and White-throated Kingfishers > IMG_4900_600x800.jpg
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12-SEP-2005

IMG_4900_600x800.jpg

White-throated Kingfisher

Scientific name - Halcyon smyrnensis

Habitat - Clearings, along large streams and rivers, and in open country.

[20D + 400 5.6L, manual exposure]

Canon EOS 20D
1/1000s f/7.1 at 400.0mm iso400 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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romy ocon29-Nov-2006 07:24
This pic is far from perfect technically , with some noise in the background, and I'd have preferred the head angle to be a bit higher and turned towards the camera.

However, anyone who shoots or watches birds know how skittish and shy these Kingfishers are. It's tough enough to approach and shoot them perched, shooting them in flight is almost impossible. Likewise, the bird presents an exposure nightmare - it's too easy to blow out the white wing bar, or severely underexpose the darkish portions.

The iridescence of the colors is difficult to capture too, as the bird has to be illuminated by the light source (the sun in this case) at just the right angle.

Technical defects aside, this pic presents an image of the bird not often seen by many - a flash of brilliant colors frozen in mid-air by the magic of DSLR photography, modern lenses and whatever flight shooting techniques I've learned so far.
Wim de Groot31-Dec-2005 18:20
Like this picture very much. Saw it in India, took some nice pictures but not in flight.

Wim de Groot
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