Pileated WP

[Peter Farrell]

Taken at First landing SP in Virginia Beach, VA. Sony A700, 70-400G, f8, 1/500, iso800, +0.7ec
50% of FF. PP in PSE8, I cloned out a bunch of vines and berries all around the bird, the sky was blown so I changed the color using photo filter, boosted contrast and de-saturated reds in the crest. USM.
I see this species regular, but have few oppurtunities to get this clean a shot. For that reason, its a keeper for me.

[denise ippolito]

Peter, The large crop shows in the head area. the fine feathers at the top of the crest seem to still have some white from the original sky. I think you did a great job with all the post processing work that you did. I can't find where you cloned, so that is good! I may have cropped this with a tiny bit less tree and a little more on the right. I think the rule of thumb is 1/3 tree 1/3 bird 1/3 sky.:)

[Peter Farrell]

Thanks Denise. I knew this was marginal at best but I still like to get feedback. I am glad my cloning is undetectable. I have been wirking on that.