Downy Bottom View

Gallery: AvianPosted March 5, 201058 views8 comments

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescen)

Spring is in the air but it was still below freezing yesterday. There was plenty of bird activity but it was the same gang as I’ve been seeing all winter. This Downy was very active and pretty well ignored me as he skipped from tree to tree...except for this one brief moment. Downy's are not exactly rare on this gallery....but I think they deserve the fame.

I like the detail and the pose of the woodpecker in this image.

I welcome your comments.

EOS 7D, EF 400 mm f/5.6, 580 EX II: ISO 320, 1/500 s, f/8.0, fill flash, 2518 x 3259 pixels (=8.2 MP or 46% of the 18 MP of the 7D)

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 5, 2010 at 7:42 PM

Steve, I like the angle to the bird, BG, perch, and comp. To me the bird's head is a bit soft and overall this image suffers from no light in the bird's eye. Even in the large version it is tough to tell if the bird has an eye. A catchlight really is needed here IMO, but I sure do understand how hard it can be to get one when you really need it. I can't tell you how many images I have tossed due to lack of light in the eye or on the face.

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 5, 2010 at 11:13 PM

neat angle, Steve. I especially like the view of those tiny little claws. Nothing wrong with the common birds, either. There is some good detail in the bird, but like Ron says, it's a shame there's not some light on the eye.

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

Comment posted by Bryan Hix on March 6, 2010 at 1:23 AM

I agree with Ron. To me it's all about a sharp eye. Also, on any woodpecker I would prefer to see more than the belly area. Your 7D has 8fps, so just hang out and wait for that great angle and let it rip. You'll get a nice angle.

Registered on June 13, 2008, 117 Posts, 755 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 6, 2010 at 6:53 AM

Steve,

You caught a great pose, nice details, colors and a terrific background for this downy, but I do find myself missing light in the downy's eye. The head is a touch soft as well which may hav been from movement. I may have bumped my ISO up to get a little more shutter speed, these bird's can move their heads so fast!

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on March 6, 2010 at 12:22 PM

Thank you all for the great comments. I really appreciate hearing both the bad and the good about this image. I especially like the many constructive suggestions. A special thanks to Ron: I had not previously realized the importance of showing the eye (I thought that having whatever eye was there in focus was sufficient). His mentioning that he has discarded many images because of this deficiency certainly reinforces its importance.

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

Comment posted by David Sparks on March 6, 2010 at 12:42 PM

Steve:
Lovely detail and I like the pose too. I agree about the catch light. I was skeptical about the importance when I first starting monitoring NPN. Find a sequence where you have a catch light in some shots and not in others. Scroll through them. I was amazed at the difference it made in my emotional reaction to the images.

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

Comment posted by Monica Siri on March 6, 2010 at 1:13 PM

Steve,
it's not to easy to observe the woodpeckers for me, so it's a pleasure to see a shot like this. I especially like the pose, the background and the vertical comp.
I agree with the nits already mentioned, overall a very nice capture!

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 7, 2010 at 10:13 AM

Steve, for me a catchlight makes a huge difference. In fact now I usually line up the shot and wait to start taking frames until I see the catchlight.

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