Downy Woodpecker

[Bill Dix]

The trouble with male Downies is that if they give you a good head turn, you can't see the red patch; if you get the red patch they are usually looking away. This is about as good a compromise as I've gotten. Some of you may begin to recognize this perch.

D7000, 700mm, ISO 800, 1/1250s @ f/7.1 manual.

[Pao Dolina]

I like it bill! :)

[Shawn Zierman]

Ha...good description of the problems with capturing nice portraits of male downy woodpeckers. Solid image of one here. I like the texture and features of the tree trunk. Classic composition for this type of woodpecker image. Light is contrasty but well handled.

[David Salem]

Nice classic looking WP pose and I like the perch and the feather detail. The WP pops from that nice dark green BG well. Nice work

[Joe Subolefsky]

Nice capture Bill looks just a little front focused to me ( the wing looks sharper then the head/eye)?

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like it too, and how it is gripping the smaller part of the perch with one foot. Harsh light, but well dealt with. I'd possibly go with a bit more perch and a bit less BG.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

It is a dilemma, but you've captured about the best trade-off. Nice control of harsh light, and like the way he's gripping the perch.





Geoffrey

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Nice WP! I don't see this being posted much here. Good feather detail and pose. Glad you were able to get both features in this image.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Bill, well exposed on this fellow on both whites and blacks, and overall nice and sharp. Good detail on both the Woody, and the tree trunk, and well positioned to have him against the green BG.