The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Another Acorn Woodpecker from a month ago. (Have been busy with other projects and haven’t been out with a camera as much as I’d like.) He has just departed a perch so focus was OK but it’s at very high ISO so not exactly the greatest IQ.
The usual protestations about not much done. NR in LR (noise was bad), Shadows brought up and Highlights down; into PS for some BG cloning to fill in dark areas and added a little canvas on the right, then a crop.
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One of your best flight shots of this species. I wonder who will get chased? There is some sacrifice to image quality with that high ISO, but your processing resulted in an excellent image. The position of the lighter portion of the BG helps separate the subject and the comp is excellent. This is a good one…Jim
Thanks, @Glenys_Passier and @Jim_Zablotny! The lack of detail in the red topknot and the small feathers on the upper wing are bothersome. I need to see if I can bring out better detail there with one of the color channels.
And an interesting note: There is a ruffled/damaged feather in the white area of the tail. I have seen it on several shots (on different days?) – is it indicative that this one individual is the head feeder bully?
Diane: OOOwwww! Hurt my chin when my jaw dropped on the desk viewing this. Despite the ISO issues what a spectacular capture of a wonderful subject. Just excellent. >=))>
Thanks, @Bill_Fach (and hope the injury heals soon)!
I was not happy with the soft area and tried some masked High Pass sharpening with improved results. Also softened the back of the topknot, which has that oddly sharp edge in the raw file. New version added above.
These guys are here year-round so are good practice targets. You’ll probably see more of them, hopefully with better results.
Diane: Wow, the pose and body language of this bird are unique and definitely imply an attitude. Would never have guessed you shot at 12,800. Excellent!
Wonderful image Diane. Love the open beak, in flight pose with the outstretched near wing. Pleasing background too. Nice repost. Details look good to me.
YIKES…this guy had me taking cover. Any idea where man got the idea for fighter or dive bomber aircraft from?..
Excellent image, Diane…the repost is the go to image for sure…
Congrats on the EP. Your technique blows me away. Using the camera and editing. Great image. How many shots did you take. How did you know how to set up your camera to grab this guy. Just amazing sharp clear image. !!!
Thanks, @Gill_Vanderlip! I spent about 50 years setting this up!
There is a suet feeder off to the right and the woodpeckers guard it jealously. I set up a perch (just a branch attached to a metal post stuck in the ground) off to the left. The path from the perch to the feeder is parallel to the sensor. This guy landed on the perch and I figured he would go for the feeder when someone else dared to try for it. Camera was on a tripod, aimed a little right of the perch, pre-focused, with me hiding in a blind with my finger on a remote release. When he launched I hit the shutter, on 20 fps burst, and got lucky.
Newer cameras have pre-capture, which starts recording when the shutter is half-pressed, so when you do hit it you have a buffer of half a second or so of shots. That’s the way to get them still touching the perch. (Luck works, too. Reaction time is just too long. My next camera will have pre-capture.)
Amazing in-flight capture, @Diane_Miller. These birds are very fast and the photo you captured really brings out the details. The noise reduction worked very well keeping the details of the darker area on the bird. I am working with birds in flight practicing every day. I have my camera in M mode with Auto ISO. But I set the auto ISO range from 100 to 3200. Your photo tells me I may be able to get a higher shutter and DOF letting ISO get higher. Thanks for the awesome photo.
Hurt my chin when my jaw dropped on the desk viewing this. Despite the ISO issues what a spectacular capture of a wonderful subject. Just excellent. >=))>
>=))>
