WI Woodpecker 2 + Repost

Gallery: AvianPosted February 1, 2010189 views15 comments

West Indian Woodpecker (Carpintero jabado): This is the same bird as in my previous post. Based upon the comments for that image, I’ve selected a shot with a better view of the birds face and I’ve cropped so as to eliminate the white spots on the tree while emphasizing the non-tree background.

All comments most welcome.

EOS 7D, EF 400mm f/5.6, 580EX II: ISO 400, 1/640 s, f/9.0, fill flash, image is 2472 x 3090 pixels (=7.6 MP or 42% of the 18 MP of the 7D).

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on February 1, 2010 at 12:15 PM

A fabulous species Steve. I think that a crop with more room in-front of the bird would work best though here, eliminating some of that BG and focusing all our attention on this fine specimen.
The bird looks sharp enough all over as does the tree.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Dubois on February 1, 2010 at 12:36 PM

Well done Steve. This makes a much stronger image. Nick's suggestion sounds good to me.

Registered on February 22, 2005, 129 Posts, 4739 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 1, 2010 at 12:43 PM

Nice, Steve. I like the detail and the cool patterns formed by the fronds in the bg.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on February 1, 2010 at 12:45 PM

Great detail and pose, Steve. I like the colors too.
I agree with Nick about the crop.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on February 1, 2010 at 2:49 PM

Thank you all, especially Nick for the crop suggestion. It's a bit tricky to do this: if I admit more of that tree it quickly dominates the image. So, instead I opted to remove some of the other background and have a smaller image (larger crop). This repost is at 5.7 MP....still not too bad. I think it looks better. What do you think?

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on February 1, 2010 at 5:33 PM

Nice work!
István
Hungary Beled

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on February 1, 2010 at 5:44 PM

Now you're cookin' with the repost. Much better and you have the sharpness here to handle the heavy crop.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on February 1, 2010 at 7:02 PM

Repost is much better - great colors and detail. I'd try to tone down the effects of the fill flash though, as it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the photo.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 1, 2010 at 9:21 PM

Steve,

I like the repost much better. Great view of the bird's face, light & details. I like how the background has some of the same colors in it as in the bird's plumage too.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on February 1, 2010 at 9:34 PM

very attractive bird, and I much prefer this pose to the first one. I think the repost is very good.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on February 1, 2010 at 10:22 PM

Much Better Steve. Great bird !

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Cunliffe on February 1, 2010 at 11:50 PM

Whatta bird! You still have great detail in spite of the tighter crop. At the risk of too much cropping advice I would suggest a little more room below the tip of the tail

Registered on May 25, 2009, 62 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 2, 2010 at 11:25 AM

The repost is a great look at this beautiful woodpecker Steve, thanks for posting it.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on February 3, 2010 at 4:04 AM

Repost is top notch Steve - lovely colours and while the background is a little busy the colours complement those of the bird.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on February 3, 2010 at 5:14 PM

Thank you all for your interesting comments. I much appreciate them. I tried implementing more changes to this image as some of you suggested. However, I run into tradeoffs: looks like this particular image is about as good as I can make it!

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments