hairy woodpecker-male

[Gary Hamilton]

Canon 1DMKIV
Canon 500mm II
Canon 1.4x
Gitzo tripod

back yard set up

1/125
f/6.3
1250

[Ian Wilson]

Looks good Gary, nice feather detail, bright eye-contact, good background. For a set-up, I would try to choose a perch that was not quite so chunky in the frame. Regards, Ian

[Grace Scalzo]

The background is delicious! Nice eye contact, blacks are rich and dark but not blocked. I suspect you have a bit more detail hiding in the whites. I agree with Ian's comment on the perch.

[Shawn Zierman]

For this species the perch looks spot on for me, at least in my neck of the woods, one might often encounter this species investigating the top of a snapped of tree like this. I really like the bird's pose and the composition. Curious about the processing of the whites on the chest of the bird...maybe it's just the softer light quality, but compared with the whites on the face and tail, the details seem just a little lacking?

[Daniel Cadieux]

I too have reservations about the perch (although Shawn makes a good point). Other than that I really like how the subject pops form the wonderful background. Well exposed and tack sharp as posted.

[Gary Hamilton]

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I went back and reprocessed the file, toning down the highlights to get more detail in the chest feathers and cropping it a bit more to minimize the perch. It might be too tight here but I can play with it some more to find a happy medium. Interested in your thoughts.

[Binu John]

Beautiful shot! Excellent pose, light, exposure, and BG! TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Gary, this one is a lot better than the one with 7d, that one is not a keeper but this on is. sharp details and great pose I only wish he had perched closer to this side of the stump as the OOF part gets a bit distracting

TFS