Another Green Woodpecker +"anting"

Quite interesting. Taken last week, the bird came into pool No 3
drank for a while then I though it had gone. It turned out it was to the left of the hide getting ants from the surface of the ground. Obscured by saplings etc for most of the time but got just the one shot. had a job getting the camera around.I,ve given this a little more contrast than normal as some of my stuff has been getting a bit "flat " See what you think people.
D200
Sigma 50-500640 ISO 120th @f8
Cheers
JohnR

Looks a little bit contrasty to me John but I would give my eye teeth (about all I have left) for a closeup of a Green Woodpecker like this. Do you fancy doing a bit of a trade: Send me a Green Woodpecker and I will send you a dozen Starlings (okay - plus a few Sparrows and.......... a Goldfinch)? Deal?

Thanks Maggie.
The comments on the contrast are really useful. Hope for more before I change anything.
You could sit in the hide here and not see a green for two years !! Thats the problem. Can't gurantee anything.
Cheers
John

Best of the bunch John, really love this!! Superb colour, pose and love the setting.

Cheers,

Lewis.


PS. Just a little contrasty, really not much on my screen though.

Contrast levels look good to me, very nice shot

John - I'm looking at this on a monitor calibrated about 10 minutes ago to a gamma of 2.2 and a luminance of 110 cdm2 - the contrast look fine, perhaps ever so slightly flat.

They eye looks a bit contrasty though - have you done some localised changes on the this area of the image?

Corker!!


Craig
www.craigchurchill.co.uk

John, lovely picture. The bird is completely unobscured and yet the surrounding vegetation shows the habitat well.
Contrast looks fine on my monitor here in work. Andy asks if you have done any selective work on the eye but it looks to me as if it has just been caught by the highlight from the sun which is creeping up its cheek.
Nice one.
Robert.

Thanks for the comments. If you look at my previous Jay shot, I thought that wa a bit flat. At least from the comments, this one seems "about right" The wood pecker was taken on a changeable day in tree cover with quite a strong wind. (One of those days we hate ! ) The one shot I got in fact was quite dull with bits of brightness here and there. All I did was muck about with the contrast a bit, and adjusted the highlights and shadows in Paint Shop Pro. I think I dropped the green a bit too, as it was a bit overpowering with the bird and leaf colour. As long as its not too far one way or the other that'll do for me.
Andy- I,ve just altered the gamma to the same as yours and it still looks acceptable- seems to drop the brighness a little as you would expect. I am using a new monitor (Flatron W2242S) and a slight head movement can alter the whole picture dramatically anyway.
Thanks foer the help.
JohnR

Contrast looks just about right to me, a fine looking bird and a fine shot!

Tony

Looks fine on my monitor too. A cracking shot.

David

Have you got a bunch of tamed greenies, John? I can't get near the damn things! Nice image.

Cheers,
Chris

Great stuff John, I'm envious of this one. Soemtimes heard but rarely seen in my neck of the woods. Contrast looks fine on my monitor as well.

Simon

John - as Craig said an absolute 'corker'

David

Lovely shot John and looks fine to me with regard to colour contrast etc.


I will swop you a water vole for one of your Green Woodies

Thanks again all. You may be interested in this one. Taken a bit later the bird was mainly obscured, butstarting "anting "- putting ants in the feathers. Seen jays do it but not these. Record shot really. The only way I am getting these is by sitting for hours on end in a hide, and believe me when I get out I know about it ! Just off for another session now.
Cheers
JohnR

A great bit of behaviour captured in the second one.

The first one is a stunner and the colours and contrast look absolutely perfect from this end.

Some very nice work John and love the colours obtained in the first image and the second image is great to have as a record/behaviour image.. Now the trick is to get a picture of an Ant on the Woodpecker..!

Brett

Lovely image of a hard bird to find,love the pose and colours

excellent shots John and the contrast looks good to me too.

Matt

Excellent shot John. would love to see this behavior one day.

Excellent couple of shots. I second Brett regarding the ant

Lovely shots, both of them.

Ian

Nearly missed this one John, I like it. Often see these at ground level so it looks very 'natural'. Not sure about the contrast though as it does look as if it had been flashed.

Des

Still going strong, aren´t you