A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a morning in a blind, with Ron from Whistling Wings Photography, in a Florida pond, taking pictures of "his" Kingfisher.
Unfortunately the morning was mostly dense fog which made for very high ISOs and really flat shots (and very hard edits). Now and then a little light came through but it was still one of the toughest shoots I've been on. Nonetheless it was a ton of fun, being 20 feet away from this bird fishing (we got there 1.5 hr before the bird and before sunrise to set-up incognito...)

Not the best shots of a KF you'll ever see but those are my first and the experience was awesome regardless (and Ron is a fantastic host).

nice

Nice shots! Too bad it was foggy. I have been out twice with Ron and had a great time. I was fortunate to have been in good weather.

May not be the best every, but darn good.

Last one where we clearly see the legs. And #2 with 2 fishes at once in the beak

I'm okay with the fog -- adds to the environmental sense of the series, I think. Beauty shots!

Incredible photographs.

Super shots and the fog adds mood.

Thank you all for the kind comments - I have to admit that I felt a bit deflated after seeing the pictures straight out of camera, so I am glad the fog isn't bothering you guys too much.

Just for reference, here is an unedited shot, just to give an idea of how atrocious the light was (this was after sunrise). I know "flat light" is good but this was a bit extreme
But I was thoroughly impressed with the eye-AF (candidly helped by the little white spot next to the eye... the AF grabbed on that mark as often as on the eye itself when contrast was very low).

Fog? Where ….
actually I love the atmosphere of the last one (post #9)

Patrick M said:

Fog? Where ….
actually I love the atmosphere of the last one (post #9)

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's a good provocation to see how to edit and enhance the mood. I have not tried that.

I agree with Patrick about the fog adding mood...but that first one...WOOOOOOWWWWWW!!! Love it!

The first and last of the set are as good as any I've seen. Great job with both the field and computer work. Well done.

FB101 said:

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a morning in a blind, with Ron from Whistling Wings Photography, in a Florida pond, taking pictures of "his" Kingfisher.
Unfortunately the morning was mostly dense fog which made for very high ISOs and really flat shots (and very hard edits). Now and then a little light came through but it was still one of the toughest shoots I've been on. Nonetheless it was a ton of fun, being 20 feet away from this bird fishing (we got there 1.5 hr before the bird and before sunrise to set-up incognito...)

Not the best shots of a KF you'll ever see but those are my first and the experience was awesome regardless (and Ron is a fantastic host).

Click to expand...

The first and last in the series are my favorites; nicely done!

Beautiful action - Glad you got them - especially since it was your first of the Kingfisher. They are great to watch - even if you dont get any photos

I really like the photos. I agree with others that the fog adds to the mood in the photo. This is the one bird I can’t ever seem to get close to and my best shot of one is at high iso. When you have a great photo opp and the light isn’t how you want it to be it always feels a bit disappointing, but you made the most of it.

Fantastic series!