Hairy Woodpecker

Gallery: AvianPosted June 13, 2010166 views15 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm x 2.0TC, handheld
f8, 1/50, ISO800

Taken today from the deck this morning under dark, rainy conditions, without time to set up a tripod. I'm genuinely surprised how sharp it came out.

Full frame, usual sharpening drill and selective sharpening on the head.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on June 13, 2010 at 3:10 AM

Handheld - 1/50 - nice and sharp - you should be a surgeon Jim.

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by denise ippolito on June 13, 2010 at 9:25 AM

Lovely behavior shot showing the wood -pecked holes nicely. Comp. looks good.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on June 13, 2010 at 10:58 AM

sharpness on the body is pretty amazing for handheld at 1/50. head could be a little sharper, but still looks pretty good. very nice comp and setting.

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

Comment posted by Bill Maile on June 13, 2010 at 12:42 PM

very nice Jim!

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by David Chauvin on June 13, 2010 at 1:21 PM

This looks great, Jim. The soft light worked to your advantage in getting an even exposure in the blacks and whites.

Registered on August 5, 2004, 1007 Posts, 5595 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on June 13, 2010 at 1:43 PM

I'm amazed how sharp this is for 1/50 s, Jim. Super steady hand and frozen bird! These fellows always give me "soft heads" at much higher speeds. Nice feather detail. Fine color.

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

Comment posted by Graham Brown on June 13, 2010 at 4:24 PM

Certainly a steady hand, really sharp for this shutter speed. Nice to see some of the habitat rather than a blurred background. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Ronnie Gaubert on June 13, 2010 at 4:28 PM

Hi Jim,
Good job with the low light. Details look good for such a high ISO in low light. I can see considerable noise in the tree's needles in the darker areas of the background in the large image. Not as obvious in the small image. It's not overly distracting but I would think a light pass of noise removal would clear that up.
Thanks for posting,
Ronnie G

Registered on November 1, 2003, 810 Posts, 3495 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on June 13, 2010 at 4:30 PM

Simply amazing at that SS at 600mm handheld Jim. Heckuva grab shot. Exposure on the bird looks very good and I like the setting too.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on June 13, 2010 at 5:47 PM

Yay, you are getting rain and I hope that helps with the wildfires!

Love the setting, the pose of the woodpecker and how you handled the exposure. Sharpness looks good too. There is some noise in the background of the larger image, I might attempt some NR there.

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

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 13, 2010 at 7:58 PM

It looks good to me Jim, I like the holes that he/she has carved into the tree.

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on June 14, 2010 at 1:25 AM

Wow, you did manage excellent sharpness, especially for that kind of fl and slow ss. Inclusion of the holes in the tree adds substantially to the success of this photo.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on June 14, 2010 at 1:58 AM

Good work with hand held.

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

Comment posted by David Sparks on June 14, 2010 at 7:13 AM

Jim:
Glad you were at the helm. The bird could not be recognized if I had made the shot with 600mm handheld and 1/50 sec. Exposure is great.

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

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on June 15, 2010 at 1:19 AM

Nicely captured, Jim; amazingly sharp at 1/50th!

Registered on October 5, 2007, 58 Posts, 2039 Comments