4 May 2013

Image Quality Test - Malachite Kingfisher

I posted this image on Facebook and it seemed to loose most of the feather detail. I am posting it here to verify that the image quality is better here.

This btw is my favourite bird of South Africa. For those of you that don't know it, a brief description from Wiki -

The Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata) is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate related movements. This is a small kingfisher, 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in length. The general colour of the upper parts of the adult bird is bright metallic blue. The head has a short crest of black and blue feathers, which gives rise to the scientific name. The face, cheeks and underparts are rufous and there are white patches on the throat and rear neck sides. The bill is black in young birds and reddish orange in adults; the legs are bright red. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult. This is a species common to reeds and aquatic vegetation near slow moving water or ponds. The flight of the Malachite Kingfisher is rapid, the short rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies low over water.The bird has regular perches or stands from which it fishes. These are usually low over the water. It sits upright, its tail pointed downwards. It drops suddenly with a splash and usually returns at once with a struggling captive.Large food items are beaten on a bough or rail; small fish and insects are promptly swallowed. A fish is usually lifted and carried by its middle, but its position is changed, sometimes by tossing it into the air, before it is swallowed head downwards.

2 comments:

  1. HI there Robbie , love your blog Great photos
    I have noticed that as well I look at photo at home process it it look reasonable then I upload it and for some reason they don't always look the same, maybe they increase the Jpeg Compression more reducing the quality, I noticed when you export from Lightroom if you don't set the Compression higher you lose a lot of quality as Lightroom exports it to Facebook at 60 % quality I think it is
    You may have already found this out
    Mark

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Mark,

      Yes, FB increases the compression greatly, hence the reduction of quality. It is for this reason that I am posting very few images on FB anymore.

      Delete