Red Bellied Woodpecker + RP

Gallery: AvianPosted March 27, 2010442 views19 comments

Melanerpes carolinus (male)

I hit the jackpot on this one. He stayed around for almost 50 frames! This was shot from a blind near my bird feeder. The perch is an old piece of oak branch that I stuck in the ground. I really like the classic pose and detail. I am concerned about the background. I did everything possible to tone it down, but it does seem busy to me. Your comments and critiques would be very welcome.

F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 800. D300 w 80-400mm VR @ 180mm. Tripod and cable release in a blind. I cloned out two OOF bits of drapeage and toned down the specular highlights, as well as patching some larger highlights. PP in LR3 (beta 2) and CS4 (selective smart sharpening and NR of background, resize). 47% of full frame.

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on March 27, 2010 at 4:37 PM

Excellent shot with a sweet pose. Aside from a small halo around the belly this is a real gem

- Luke

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

Comment posted by Alexander Vasiljev on March 27, 2010 at 4:46 PM

Nice woodpecker and the pose. It looks like he was really interested in that piece of wood.

The background looks a bit unnatural to me with dissaturation and toning down. Is f/6.3 the widest aperture you can go? What metering mode did you use? I also think bringing down red luminance in LR will help the color of the bird's cap to be more saturated.

Registered on February 20, 2009, 35 Posts, 64 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 27, 2010 at 6:57 PM

Actually, that lens goes down to 5.6 fully extended. I could (and probably should) have gone down to f/4.0, since it was at 180mm. I usually post that info, but I just forgot. This was spot metered. Agree about the red. Following is a redo. I reduced the luminance of the red and only reduced the background brightness with curves, instead of doing all the patching that I did on the original post. I really think it looks better, even if it is busy. Certainly more natural.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 27, 2010 at 7:02 PM

This is an excellent shot of a great looking bird. IMO the BG is not busy and not a distraction. I would be interested to know what measures you took to tone down the BG as the leaves do seem to be a funny kind of grayish color but aside from that it looks to me like a tree or bush with green leaves that are OOF enough to not be distracting, exactly the kind of natural looking BG I would expect for a shot of a woodpecker in the woods or in the garden.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on March 27, 2010 at 7:16 PM

I guess I was typing my previous comment when you did the repost. Now that I see it I like the BG in the repost better. The only small problem being the brownish leaves in the ULC which you could clone out if you wanted to. In the RP the bird and the stump look a little contrastier and darker than the first post especially around the birds face and I think I prefer the first post in that regard but the red head looks better and more saturated in the second. I guess I would say that personally I like parts of first post and parts of repost and if you combine them together you will have a really great shot.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 27, 2010 at 8:29 PM

Tada!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 27, 2010 at 9:49 PM

Red bellies are fun birds and I miss them here in AZ. I like the woodpecker's pose and the perch, but the background is a bit distracting. Of the three versions here I prefer the third one.

With a backyard set-up you have complete control over almost everything, and it would be much better to deal with the background before taking any photos rather than trying to "fix" things afterwards with post processing.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on March 27, 2010 at 10:27 PM

Nice Phil- Love these birds. I've had one that visited regularly during the past winter at my feeder in MA. And for what it's worth my preference is for the third post.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on March 28, 2010 at 12:23 AM

The background doesn't distract my eye at all. Nice capture, nice detail and good techs. Maybe back off the sharpening just a hair to reduce the very slight halo along the chest. Fine work, Phil.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 28, 2010 at 8:20 AM

I go with Rich Ditch's comments and suggestions on this one Phil. I like the perch you picked.

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

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on March 28, 2010 at 9:49 AM

Let's see. You stick an old branch into the ground, grab your camera and a beautiful wooodpecker comes to pose. I'd say that's quite a setup, Phil.
Yeah, I like the third post. Was going to say between the first and second and then I scrolled down.
Great job. Lots of detail.

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

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on March 28, 2010 at 9:58 AM

Third one for me too.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on March 28, 2010 at 9:59 AM

Excellent capture. Love the perch you choose. The third one works for me.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on March 28, 2010 at 11:10 AM

Very nice Phil. I love the design of the perch

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on March 28, 2010 at 5:52 PM

Philip,

I also perfer the third version and think that Rich Ditch gave you some excellent advice.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 28, 2010 at 8:27 PM

All things being equal if you zoom in and make the bird bigger in the frame (this is a large crop anyway) you will be using more focal length and at the same F-stop the background should be more out of focus. I think the repost is a nice improvement here Phil.

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

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on March 28, 2010 at 8:43 PM

Great Capture Phil!!!

I like everything including the background.

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on March 29, 2010 at 10:32 AM

Nate, I had come to the same conclusion. I also moved the setup 10 feet further from the BG and moved my blind back the same amount.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 29, 2010 at 11:38 AM

Very nice Phil, I did not think the background too distracting since my eyes went right for the bird, however I do like the 3rd image the best, way to go.

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