Greetings. In the pecking order around my backyard feeder, the acorn woodpecker rules, though they don't visit that often with an oak tree across the street. The scrub jay dominates otherwise.
D4 300f/2.8 + TC20EIII (600mm) 1/1250 at f/6.3 ISO 2000 manual HH braced on window sill (shot from by home office window).
+1 Exposure in LR, nr, sharpening, cloned out a small branch, slight gaussian blur on a few hard edges in the bg. Toned down some of the leaves, pushed the white house next door toward an overcast sky blue ;-)
Some Lab curves for color and a bit lighter blacks on chest any near eye.
Nice looking woodpecker Michael. We don't have those here, so it's always a treat for me to see birds not in my area. I like the perch coming from the bottom right hand corner and moving up the frame. I would crop just a little off the top and left side to bring the bird up a bit. On my monitor, it looks a little dark. I did a quick edit with a curves adjustment and the slight crop. This may or may not be needed as they were very small adjustments. Your PP skills are far above mine, so if you feel these suggestions are valid, I'm sure you could do a much better adjustment than I did. Nice job.
Wow what a tuff subject . You handled it well . Great idea on the white house ,TFS . I will use that trick myself . I think your op is good and Jeannean's brings the bird out even better . I also feel there is more to be had . (More Detail in the blacks) . Around the beak and above the eye . It's a great photo !
Michael, very nice image. First I've seen one of these, looks like a cross between a crow and woodpecker. As already mentioned it looks a touch dark overall, working the bird with brushes or masks would bring it out a bit more. Clarity is very good considering it was taken through a window. You've also handled the High ISO processing quite well, perhaps part of the reason it looks a little flat. This is something I need to become more proficient at.
Thanks much for your comments. They are greatly appreciated. Randall, it was taken through an open window, no glass/screen intervening. Jeannean the repost looks good... thanks for the good ideas.
Acorn Woodpecker
