Peanut butter Woody

[Craig Wallace]

This Downy loves peanut butter.
D2xs 80-400vr at 400mm, iso 200 f/7.1 at 1/500 sec, ev +.33 matrix metering, WB sunny, AP.
Some adjustments in ACR, PS CS4: shadow/highghts, curves, Color balance to remove yellow color cast, hue/saturation. Comments and suggestions welcome. THanks for looking.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Craig. Everything looks good-eye contact, sharpness, detail, nice BG.

I like the peanut butter in the beak!:D I am going to have to try this!

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Nicely expose, love the clinging pose, the HA, and the feather details. I also like how you include the peanut butter on the tree, show the source of the stuff in the beak. Nice catch light in the eye too. I might run NR on the background and on the black part of the wing.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Love it, nice composition,..1/3 tree, 1/3 bird, 1/3 BG!

Nice detail and exposure techs. I am on work monitor but highlights look in check, nice with +.33 - sweet picture.

Yellow cast, are you shooting AWB or did you warm it a tad?

[Bill Dix]

Great Downy pose, HA and detail. (Don't you love the way they brace with their tails.) Beautiful bg color. Breast looks brown to me, compared to the light grey of the Downys in my neighborhood -- maybe that's a mark of the Western sub-species (or has he been rubbing in the peanut butter?).

[Lance Peters]

Hi Craig - Lots to like here - mostly covered above - a little tight at he bottom maybe, not sure if thats a tail feather or part of the tree thats sneaking out of the frame.
TFS

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Craig You might want to do a test with this lens, I have never used it much but have been told by Juan (bird moderator) that is not at its sharpest at 400. All you would need to do is mounted on a tripod and shoot a target .... one at 375 and the other at 400. Make sure all is ideal and would try wide open which is the way it will be used most of the time.

Neat looking woody and low on the tree, not sure if something was done to the bg but does not look totally natural, might lower saturation a bit? Very appealing image and sure jumps out at you !!! Got a keeper !!!

[Harold Davis]

a keeper for sure!!! love the detail in the bird and the peanut butter trick is one i did not know!! cool idea. agree with al about the bg and the whites look a little hot in a couple of small spots, but not bad. i'm sure the original looks great! nice job!!!

[Bill Dix]

[quote=Alfred Forns;451367]Hi Craig You might want to do a test with this lens, I have never used it much but have been told by Juan (bird moderator) that is not at its sharpest at 400. All you would need to do is mounted on a tripod and shoot a target .... one at 375 and the other at 400. Make sure all is ideal and would try wide open which is the way it will be used most of the time.

Craig - I use the same lens. I've found that it works better if I remember to back off the zoom to around 375, and shoot at f/7.1 when I can. It is not at its best at 400 and 5.6. I've been meaning to do a more scientific test; the above is based on hit and (mostly) miss observations.

[Craig Wallace]

Thanks everyone for your great comments and suggestions, Jeff I shot on Awb at 4850 as shot, moved to 5500. Bill, thanks for the info on the 80-400mm lens, and the woody image was taken in Missouri I don't know why the breast is darker? Al the bg is thick bushes about 20-30 yards away, I tried lowering the saturation a little and didn't make much of any difference.
Thanks all Craig W.