I recently got this male nuttall’s woodpecker in the early morning rain (I unsuccessfully tried to post it in "weekly challenge). He did not appear to be having all that much fun.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
There’s a lot of environmental stuff going on but, fortunately, he was able to cleanly show thru all the clutter. I decided not to worry about the BG and concentrate on making sure the subject was good. Yeah?
Technical Details
Z9, Nikon 200-500 lens, 1/1000th, f 8.0, 720mm, ISO 22800, monopod, cropped to 2646 x 2066
He looks great to me, Dave. The blacks are not too dark and the whites still show plenty of detail, IMHO. Yes, there is a lot going on the background, but the woodpecker still stands out very nicely.
Yeah! you did a great job capturing…and cleaning up the subject…this is a great pose and lovely colours. If you decide to clean up the BG a bit maybe concentrate on darkening the bright horizontal lines. Or maybe a different aspect ratio that cuts off the top a bit? Just thoughts.
Hi Dave, I like the wet nature of subject and surroundings - it adds another element of interest. The woodpecker does show well in spite of the busy background. Given that, well seen and captured.
Isn’t it amazing that so many woodpecker species have common traits - the black and white dappling and red somewhere on the head being two big ones. We don’t have these here, but they are very like Downy and Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and look to be of similar size. The way you’ve caught the head and that one drop of rain makes it seem as if the bird is looking at it. Definitely something was occupying its attention.
Yes there is a lot all around the bird and I think you did pretty well finding an open spot. Sharpness looks fine given the extent of the crop. One valuable birding technique I have learned, but haven’t yet put into practice is to look through the subject. That is to see past where a bird might perch to what’s behind it - this can include branches and other physical objects, but it can be light at certain times of day. Here’s a video where Scott explains -
I’ve found Scott’s experience and advice quite valuable. He does a companion video about finding the sweet spot in a location and that one I plan to put to use in a local pond once the ice melts!
Hi Dave. The background is so busy that it almost becomes a pattern and I don’t find most of it too distracting. The two areas that draw my attention are the branch behind the head and what looks like a dead leaf on the right edge. The pose is great.
