Stork Billed Giant Kingfisher.

[pinakibaidya]

I am enjoying bird photography now.Guess the reason! I have bought one Sigma 150-500mmAPO DG HSM. The lens is very sharp and quick in focusing.And i have got a greater reach.I am also trying to improve my skill. And this is no better platform than CIC for assessing my improvement and to learn from experts. Here is one pic of Kingfisher. It was taken in the mid-noon by my Nikon D5100 with Sigma 150-500mm. Though the timing was not right i had to shoot it because after waiting so many ours beside the wetland this gentleman did not turn up in the morning.

[chauncey]

It took me a minute to absorb the quality of the image, it's quite good but... that is just about the
ugliest colorful bird that I have ever seen, unless we are the victim of photo-shop trickery.

[jamn4ex]

What a beautiful bird. I am hoping its head is more in proportion to its body than this angle presents. looking forward to more pics from your new big lens.

[John 2]

Nicely taken on the diagonal but I agree this isn't the most attractive of birds. It's beak is clearly capable of some serious business. Pinaki, any chance of giving us some meta data please. I have been blowing hot and cold over this Sigma lens for some time.

[FootLoose]

Is there a bit of lens distortion going on there? I googled the stork billed giant kingfisher for reference and found a shot more in profile: http://www.online-utility.org/image/...er_%281%29.jpg

[Brownbear]

Amazing bird, and beautiful in a unique way.

Very nice detail but for me the angle and position of the bird is a little odd.

Congratulation on your new lens! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your bird photos. My favourite bird photo of yours is the one in the grass... beautiful.

[pinakibaidya]

Dear All,
I thank you for viewing my work. I admit the angle is a bit odd and that may be the reason the head appears disproportionately larger.Regarding metadata -f/6.7,1/500sec,Spot metered,+2EV exposure compensation.As i have already mentioned the time was midnoon and so i had to post-process a bit in photoshop to enhance the colour.The bird was perching almost 40feet above on a electric wire, so i had no option of a better angle.

[John 2]

Thanks Pinaki. What focal length was the zoom set at?

[pinakibaidya]

Oh sorry i forgot to mention.It was 500mm. My D5100 is crop sensor so it amounts to 750mm!

[John 2]

Thanks Pinaki. Despite the reviews, it looks reasonably sharp at 500mm. Near enough anyway so that a bit of post process sharpening will bring it up to scratch.