Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon:  Tamiami Trail, Florida

This image is from a series of shots I took along the Tamiami Trail on December 29 of last year (see post for January 3, 2015).  The original is in color, but I do love this black and white rendition.  Click the links below to see color images of this beautiful bird.

http://www.bobbyharrison.blogspot.com/search/label/Belted%20Kingfisher 

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/500 second @ f5.6

Pic of the Day

Snowy Egret, Egretta thula:  

Saint Augustine Alligator Farm; Saint Augustine, Florida

     I first posted this image on August 27, 2014, (click this link for the What, When, and Where, about the color image, click; http://www.bobbyharrison.blogspot.com/search/label/Snowy%20Egret.  
    I love the color image, but I thought this would look good as a black and white photo as well.  The tonal values between the egret and background provide excellent separation, while the white tones of the egret shows superb detail. Contrasting tones are needed to render various gray values for a black and white image.  In this image those tones were in the dark backgrund, dark and light greens, and of course, the varied tones of the white egret. I burned the edges of the black and white image to place greater emphasis on the egret.  
     I am quite pleased with the results.  If you like the image; which do you like best?  Let me know in the comment section.

Pic of the Day

     Trees – Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountain National Park:  I found this row of trees in Cades Cove that were perfectly lit against a dark background.  Though the trees had color, they were much more graphic image in black and white.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8, 1/400sec. @ f5.6