Red-Naped Sapsucker

Gallery: AvianPosted November 2, 2015135 views12 comments

This was taken during my most recent visit to Yellowstone and the Tetons last month. After spending so much time in the area over the years, there are very few "common" species that I had yet to document, at least when it comes to getting a "decent" ID shot. The red-naped sapsucker was one of them though, so I was very happy to have this cooperative fellow returning to work over one particular tree several times.

Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4x
ISO 400
1/1250th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 2, 2015 at 5:39 PM

Looks like excellent detail in the Spasucker, Max. I like the nice eye contact and typical pose. I think it might benefit from some cropping to remove part of the oof trunk on the left as that tends to draw my eye. Just playing with the snipping tool, an alsomst square format seems to work better to me.

devil

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

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on November 2, 2015 at 7:58 PM

Great looking bird, nice pose and that background is perfect. I would crop off about 1/4 of the left side of this image as it's OOF and distracting

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on November 3, 2015 at 12:10 AM

Nice detail and techs on this one Max. I do agree with the others on the crop suggestions.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on November 3, 2015 at 9:40 AM

Great detail and classic pose Max, I would agree that a square crop might be more effective. The neutral background is perfect.

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on November 3, 2015 at 11:09 AM

Nice to have this beautful species (and shot for that matter) back-to-back to my woodpecker. I am not a huge fan of square crops, but agree with the others that in this case it might work. Best, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on November 3, 2015 at 11:38 AM

Terrifc pose, detail, colors, and bg, Max. devil

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on November 3, 2015 at 12:40 PM

Thanks guys. I have no problem with square crops, so the suggestion is a sound one.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on November 3, 2015 at 1:11 PM

Lovely image Max but I also think it could do with some cropping, What about trying a vertical?
May

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

Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 3, 2015 at 5:33 PM

Sweet capture of this beauty Max laugh

Graet pose and wonderful details, I like the texture of the tree trunk too. I'm with May on her vertical crop suggestion.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by David Bogener on November 4, 2015 at 2:31 PM

Cool species, well captured. Compositionally consider less OOF tree trunk and moving the sapsucker up slightly in the frame? Thanks for posting.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 417 Posts, 1255 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 4, 2015 at 9:06 PM

Sweet lighting here Max, if it holds up I would crop it to a vertical . devil

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

Comment posted by John Launstein on November 6, 2015 at 12:31 AM

Hi Max! Great look at this sapsucker! Beautiful pose and background, and I love the textures of the tree trunk. Like some of the others above, I wondered about a slightly higher positioning of the bird in the frame (but I would say only if you have space below to add back in...I wouldn't want to see it much closer to the top than it is here). Perhaps instead of a vertical crop that was suggested above, a 1:1 (square) crop might be the perfect balance (sure looks good on my phone screen that way!).

Registered on April 5, 2011, 223 Posts, 1193 Comments