Screaming Bald Baby

[Marina Scarr]

I was shocked when I saw this baby pileated woodpecker at the nest cavity with NO feathers squawking up a storm for some grub! I had never seen such a young woodpecker at the nest cavity prior to this.

This image was not easy to compose/crop. I finally decided on this composition b/c I felt it showcased the various elements of the nest which are quite strong, along with the chick's behavior.

Thank you for looking. Your C & C are always most welcomed and much appreciated.

Canon 1D4, Canon 500 & 2.0 TC @ 1000mm
F11, 1/1250sec, ISO 1000, manual mode
Jobu head, Feisol tripod

[David Salem]

Nice looking shot with allot to look at. I think you did a good job on the comp as I can see if you tried cropping from above you would lose that unique bark formation. The hungry WP looks great and I like the bald head and featherless crop and breast. Techs look good too. Great work Marina.

[Frank Schauf]

Very nice scene and colors.

[Arthur Morris]

Quite an astounding capture. The nest looks as if it were fairly high up. Though I have not used flash in more than a year, I must ask, do you think that it would have helped this image?

[Randall Farhy]

Marina, a fantastic behavior and environment image. Unique and fascinating with a story to tell. I don't think I've ever seen a baby Woodpecker. I really like the variety of textures and the fact you didn't crop tight on the opening.

Composition is unusual in that there are two subjects competing for attention. The upper bark section strongly mimics the bird and it's opening. Even though you lose a small facet of the bark detail, I still think I'd take it from the top to remove just the "knob" looking element and leave the hook tips of the darker shadow. Again, completely subjective and personal choice.

[Marina Scarr]

Quite an astounding capture. The nest looks as if it were fairly high up. Though I have not used flash in more than a year, I must ask, do you think that it would have helped this image?

Hi Artie:

The nest was fairly high up but workable. This was the first day of photography at this nest, and I did not use flash. Subsequently, I used fill on most of my images unless it was very early morning. The flash did cause some shadows against the tree trunk and lighting inside of the cavity wasn't necessarily pleasing to the eye. I would say overall, I preferred the use of fill with this nest.

[Alan Murphy]

Awesome find and a great image. I agree with Randall. I find the knob distracting and not adding much to the image.

[dankearl]

Great sighting and work in getting this one.
I also agree about cropping the knob out, it does compete for attention.

[Joseph Przybyla]

A image filled with wonder, great capture Marina. I am in agreement regarding cropping to below the knob, I find my eye drown away from the nest and bird.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I never realized WPs at such a young age could come to the edge of the nest hole like this! What a find! I'm on the fence about that "knob" but if print it at a 5:4 aspect ratio it will nicely crop out. Love the bit of lichen in lower left corner.

[Marina Scarr]

Thank you everyone for your comments/critiques. I have gone back and reworked and recropped the image. I am going to include the original capture in this thread so that you can see what I was working with, and also the RP in the next post. I'd appreciate your opinions now that you can see the original capture.

[Marina Scarr]

Here is the RP with some dodging, shadow/highlights, recropping and a better sharpening job. I wasn't sure that the quality of the image would hold up with this much of a crop, but it seems to work. Curious what you all think.

[Randall Farhy]

Marina, tough one indeedy. I opened my yap so I'll take the plunge.

The RP works, no doubt. Seeing the original and working from that, how would you feel about a vertical pano giving the feel of a more precarious nesting site? If you're ok with sky, I'd leave some on the right side, clone out the stump on the bottom, darken the blue to make it less distracting and go that route. I think you've made the best of a tough situation, just coming home with the shot in the first place!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

As much as I like the knob on this tree I also found it a challenge to compose. The knot is so high up from the cavity that it leaves so mush space up top and I find it distracting as well. I also think when the chicks got bigger and there were more heads popping out it seemed more fitting to choose that crop. I prefer the last post as It highlights the small size of the chick and it's behavior.