My very first image posted this year is of a female Cuban Green Woodpecker. While not one of my best images I was pleased have the opportunity to create this image, of one of the 24 Cuban Endemics, on December 26 while we vacationed near Varadero last week.
I have our 20 year old son Peter to thank for finding this species for me. On Christmas morning he asked me if I had gotten photos of the "green woodpecker". I hadn't so the next morning, our last full day there, we returned to the spot and waited. About 20 minutes later it appeared and stayed around for only about 5 minutes.
Despite the steep angle, bad lighting and clutter of branches I managed to add this species to my life list and photo collections.
I wanted to share it with my friends here at BPN.
Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm handheld at 500mm. 1/200 seconds, F7.10, ISO 640
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
Croped to about 50% of full frame. Cloned out a few hotspots on the branches and burned down the brightness in a couple of other locations.
Last edited by Stephen Stephen; 01-01-2009 at 10:53 AM.
Sharp for handheld 500mm lens at 1/200 sec. The bird could go a bit lighter. Good head angle and good self critique.
I am confused by this: My very first image for this year is of a female Cuban Green Woodpecker." On what date did you create the image???
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Thanks Stephen. That makes more sense. And congrats on the new bird. What were you doing in Cuba?
BIRDS AS ART Blog: great info and lessons, lots of images with our legendary BAA educational Captions; we will not sell you junk. 30+ years of long lens experience/e-mail with gear questions.
BIRDS AS ART Online Store: we will not sell you junk. 35 years of long lens experience. Please e-mail with gear questions.
Check out the new SONY e-Guide and videos that I did with Patrick Sparkman here. Ten percent discount for BPN members,
Artie my wife treated the whole family to a "Christmas in Cuba" vacation. It was the first time for most of us and we had a lovely time on the beach although it wasn't the Canadian winter wonderland we know.
I'll be posting images of a few more species soon.
Nice looking woodpecker, very cute and "young" in appearance. Artie's got it covered...but I'll also add that you could apply some noise reduction to the BG. I'm glad this trip was worthwhile for you and your family and that you got a chance to do some photography too :-)
Happy New Year! / Bonne Année!
Reply With Quote
