Pileated Woodpecker Babies

[Danny J Brown]

This image has a few technical issues but I couldn't resist sharing it with my bird-loving friends. One of these three amigos didn't get the memo about holding still for me as I was shooting at 1/25th in some ornery, dappled light. I realize I could have jumped to ISO 800 but 1/50th with extra grain really wouldn't have helped much.

Canon 40D; Canon 500/4 + 1.4TC; 1/25; f/5.6; ISO 400; Gitzo GT3530LS w/Wimberley II; Aperture Priority; Standing in three foot of water in timber along a flooding Missouri River trying to keep the carp that were slamming into my tripod from tipping the whole rig over!!

Thanks,

DB

[Jean Chang]

Danny,

What a sweet shot! Yeah, I know the little guy in the middle is a little fuzzy, but overall I love this shot. The best part for me is how the angle of the beaks works so well--the two on the sides pointing out to each side and the one in the middle pointing up. Wow--1/25th! That's amazing to have it look so good at that SS.

[Dan Brown]

Hey Danny! very, very cool! I think you could have done ok at 800 ISO noise-wise but the extra tiny bit of SS would probably not help anyway. Actually, the oof bird may be in front of the sharp focal plane? Love the shot!

[Danny J Brown]

Hey Danny! very, very cool! I think you could have done ok at 800 ISO noise-wise but the extra tiny bit of SS would probably not help anyway. Actually, the oof bird may be in front of the sharp focal plane? Love the shot!

Thank you Dan....I'll go with your theory. He just missed that razor sharp plane of the 1120mm focal length!

DB

[Troy Lim]

Looks like the focus was on the tree plus being at f/5.6. Good try.

[Alfred Forns]

Sweet shot Danny Like it a lot !! Would just desaturate the reds a bit !! Tech wise would have taken a chance on more noise and raise ISO one stop for more shutter speed !!! A big keeper in my book !!!

[Danny J Brown]

Sweet shot Danny Like it a lot !! Would just desaturate the reds a bit !! Tech wise would have taken a chance on more noise and raise ISO one stop for more shutter speed !!! A big keeper in my book !!!

Hey Al -- I turned those reds down already but I'll take them down another notch. Regarding ISO 800, all I have to say is....I can't wait to get my 1D4!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even know what I'm waiting for. I don't have any kids.:) .....except for Piper and Sammie of course. Take care.

[Robert O'Toole]

Very cool Danny, 1/25th? dont you mean 1/250th? Joking, I just cant believe you have anything sharp that is moving at that speed. Amazing job.
When I had my 40D sometimes after a few frames at a lower ISO I would raise the ISO up for more DOF or higher SS.
You did the best you could here given the conditions and the only element that could be better to me is more DOF for the front bird.

Thanks for sharing the image.

Robert

[Danny Laredo]

Sweet image that could have been a great image if all 3 would have been in focus.

[Joe Senzatimore]

Tech. issues aside , a very sweet shot. I'm with Alfred on raising the ISO and accepting the noise. When you get your new body , you will love it. I'm a Nikon shooter(D3) so I now know the joys of being able to shoot "clean" at high ISO.:):):) Good Luck.

[Morkel Erasmus]

very cute shot Danny, techs mentioned but thanks for sharing the challenging setup as well :)
good luck with the new toy...

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Talk about being in the right place at the right moment Danny, Wonderful composition and what an opportunity to get the babies. A keeper for sure !! Everything else has been covered. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike Fuhr]

Love this one Danny -- another great capture. Just pul the trigger on the 1D4 already!

[Gary Irwin]

What a delightful capture!

[allanrube]

Great capture. Jealous - I am still trying to get a good shot of one!

[Fernando Cerra]

Superb ! great facial expression on all birds !

[Danny J Brown]

Thanks for all of the nice comments and thoughtful suggestions. My final thoughts are to loosen the shot up a little from the current crop and maybe blacken the blacks a tad.

DB

[Jim Buescher]

Sweet Danny! I'm also photographing a pileated nest, but our babies are much younger... just started poking there heads out. I know what kind of light you're shooting in and hope mine turn out this good. I like how you can see the difference between the boy (back) and the girls.

[paul leverington]

One of the best babies poking out of the nest hole shots I have seen. I agree with Al that you could of been at ISO 800. Did you try any selective sharpening on the middle bird? There are plug in programs that remove motion blur and they do work well sometimes--that might be worth a go. In any case this shot is most definitely worth a try. Nice work!

Paul

[paul leverington]

Dan--the more I see it your just out of the plane of focus. Here I did a quick and out sharpening and a darkening midtone contrast adjustment. Photokit has a depth of field brush that works great for images like this--not what I did as that's loaded on my other computer--but should do a better job.

Paul

[Harshad Barve]

such a sweet image Dannybhai , big congrats
TFS

[Kiran Poonacha]

Great one Bhai, really loved the setting here..

[Danny J Brown]

Sweet Danny! I'm also photographing a pileated nest, but our babies are much younger... just started poking there heads out. I know what kind of light you're shooting in and hope mine turn out this good. I like how you can see the difference between the boy (back) and the girls.

Yes, Jim I forgot to mention that there is pronounced sexual dimorphism in this little critters. Thanks for bringing that up. Good luck with your nest....maybe a Better Beamer will help but I don't use one.

DB

[Danny J Brown]

Dan--the more I see it your just out of the plane of focus. Here I did a quick and out sharpening and a darkening midtone contrast adjustment. Photokit has a depth of field brush that works great for images like this--not what I did as that's loaded on my other computer--but should do a better job.

Paul

Thanks for the consideration Paul. Once I loosened the shot, the third bird is hardly noticeable. I'm going back tomorrow as the little guys have their heads hanging out most of the time. Take care.

DB

[Danny J Brown]

Thanks Kiran and Harshad!

DB