Upside Down. (Red-bellied Woodpecker)

[Karl Egressy]

I took this picture in someone's backyard whom I don't even know but they welcome birders and photographers.
Naturally I had no control over the setup.
I did my best in PP. to make the picture presentable.
According to the lady of the house, they had seven species of woodpeckers on that day.
Thanks for looking.

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Manual Exposure
Tv 1/500
Av 6.3
Spot Metering
EF500mm f/4L IS USM
Focal Length 500.0mm
Flash did not fire.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Not sure where in Ontario you are, but this species is usually news-worthy here in Ottawa. I like how the front claw is gripping the piece of bark. Looks like you had some nice light. Good techs, but critical focus is not on the face (more on the wing). I'd also prefer less room below and more above.

[Karl Egressy]

Not sure where in Ontario you are, but this species is usually news-worthy here in Ottawa. I like how the front claw is gripping the piece of bark. Looks like you had some nice light. Good techs, but critical focus is not on the face (more on the wing). I'd also prefer less room below and more above.

Thanks Daniel. You are absolutely right.
I should have checked the critical focus as I have shot where the critical focus is on the head.
The log was spinning and sometimes I missed the head.
Actually it was taken at the shore of Lake Erie.
The lucky owners of the lakeshore house even had a Yellow-throated Warbler coming to theit feeders.

[rajojomanik]

Very welcoming the home owner. Hopefully you'll get another chance at this RBW.

Nice seeing you at this forum, Karl.

[Craig Kerr]

Opportunity well used Karl... like the pose and composition of this image, colors and just beautiful.

[Karl Egressy]

Not sure where in Ontario you are, but this species is usually news-worthy here in Ottawa. I like how the front claw is gripping the piece of bark. Looks like you had some nice light. Good techs, but critical focus is not on the face (more on the wing). I'd also prefer less room below and more above.

Thanks again. I checked the other image where the critical focus was on the eye, but this one has a much better overall appeal at least to me.
What I did was I took Daniel's advice and recomposed the image; more canvas at the bottom, less at the top.
I gave an other round of sharpening to the head and using the blur tool at low precentage, I blurred the wing area ever so slightly.
Here it goes:

[Peter Dexter]

Very nice photo of female and nice composition. Seems a little bright on my screen and would be interesting to see how it looks with the exposure backed up a little.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Karl excellent light, which in turn has brought the detail and colours nicely. Great view of the toe 'latching' onto the perch.

I think Dan meant less room below and more above. In your repost, you have done the opposite. :w3