I observed and photographed both a male and a female Pileated Woodpecker excavating a potential nest site for the forthcoming breeding season. I thought it was early for that but I even saw them mating deeper in the woods, so the preparations are definitely underway. Here, the female paid no attention to me as she worked on a rotten log for nutritional goodies. The background was not pretty for full body images, so I went in close and aligned myself with the snowy BG for a high key result. She kept raising her head like this about every 10 seconds, so the trick was to pre-focus, and look at an empty viewfinder until she'd raise her head again and pop back into view. Quick re-compose and critical focus, and fire off a few before her head disappeared again. Repeating as necessary.
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, added a bit of canvas top and right, deepened the blacks via burn tool.
Terrific strategy Dan and you were rewarded with an excellent frame. I never knew there was a bit of brown on the forehead! Nice details in the blacks and i like this high key image bc of the strong head portrait and the color.
Fantastic, Daniel. I am huge fan of super detailed headshots and this one is great.
Detail and exposure are perfect and her curious look really makes this a strong
image.
Very nice portrait with a good HA. Detail in the blacks and whites are excellent.
I am wondering if you could increase the saturation of the reds lightly as they look a bit thin.
You are lucky to be able to get so close to them. here, they are very wary,
Gail
I'm not familiar with these so don't know how the colour and tone should look. Having said that, this works very well for me with excellent detail right into the whites while still retaining plenty in the dark plumage. I'm also a fan of portraits like this and your technique has paid off nicely.
I am a fan of this one. Tack sharp, with fine feather detail and a bright clear eye. The high key back ground compliments the portrait pose. They are very wary around here and hard to get close to. Well done just to get a portrait of a Pileated Woodpecker.
Last edited by John Whaley; 03-11-2018 at 10:53 AM.
Hi Dan, lovely portrait of this female, and well timed to capture the slightly raised head. Good field craft as explained, and to capture her against a snow BG to make the colours pop. The tiny bits of wood/bark on her beak adds interest.
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Female Pileated Woodpecker Portrait.
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