Lady Lewis Woodpecker

Gallery: AvianPosted February 17, 2010170 views16 comments

This is a shot from last spring of a female Lewis Woodpecker. At least I think it was a female. She was clinging to this tree while two larger Lewis's were vieing for her attention. Taken with a Canon 30D with a Tokina 400mm 5.6 lens.

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by Kevin Thompson on February 17, 2010 at 4:44 PM

Gorgeous Clayton!!!!

Registered on March 15, 2005, 114 Posts, 2639 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on February 17, 2010 at 4:59 PM

A very cool species Clayton. The sharpness looks good and the light on the face is nice. A very good BG and comp too. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Clayton Musgrove on February 17, 2010 at 6:10 PM

Thanks Kevin and Ron. They are very majestic birds. And honery too. When they are around they rule the roost. I watched one chase a big silver gray squirrel about 75 yards last year.

Registered on February 6, 2010, 55 Posts, 235 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on February 17, 2010 at 7:28 PM

Isn't that a beauty? Love that feathered boa

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on February 17, 2010 at 7:38 PM

Interesting bird - good eye contact.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on February 17, 2010 at 8:11 PM

Majestic is a good descriptor. Excellent capture. I like the gray BG for the black and red of the bird.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 17, 2010 at 8:24 PM

They are certainly gorgeous birds and this is a really nice capture of one Clayton

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

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on February 18, 2010 at 1:33 AM

A real beauty, Clayton.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Ross on February 18, 2010 at 3:27 AM

Very nice, great looking woodpecker, well captured. You might consider increasing contrast in your blacks, if you use a contrast mask (a high contrast version of the image - inverted) and make the curve quite steep down around a value of 50, you can bring up the wings and area below the feet without washing everything else out, while still keeping good blacks.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2729 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on February 18, 2010 at 5:04 AM

Excellent detail, pose, and colors!!!

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on February 18, 2010 at 10:10 AM

Wow, excellent shot all the way around, perch, background, bird detail all add up to a wonderful shot, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Clayton Musgrove on February 18, 2010 at 10:34 AM

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Thanks for the suggestion Chris.

Registered on February 6, 2010, 55 Posts, 235 Comments

Comment posted by Satie Sharma on February 18, 2010 at 12:41 PM

Sweet shot of this great looking bird, Clayton.

Registered on November 11, 2003, 189 Posts, 5335 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on February 19, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Nice one Clayton. I love the pink hues in their plumage

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 19, 2010 at 10:15 AM

Clayton,

This is a very nice image of this woodpecker, I love how the background sets the colors of the bird off and the nice pose & headturn.

There appears to be a very thin halo in some areas around the bird, if you'd like more information about eliminating halos during post processing Rich Ditch just added a tutorial to his site that is well worth reading.

I have yet to see & photograph this species, would love to have this in my files.

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

Comment posted by Rick Bowers on February 23, 2010 at 6:59 PM

Not much more you could ask for in a Lewis' portrait!

Registered on September 29, 2009, 9 Posts, 18 Comments