Dad delivers lunch

[Craig Markham]

Dundee, Oregon, USA
2009:06:03 14:161
Canon EOS-1D Mark III
EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x
Focal length: 280mm
Subject distance: 7.4 m
Gitzo 3541LS CF Systematic tripod/ Wimberley II
Remote switch
AF mode: Manual Focus
Manual Exposure @1/5000 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1600
Flash: External E-TTL High speed sync 580EXII w Better Beamer
Flash exposure compensation: -1/3
Metering mode: Evaluative
Single frame shooting
Image size: 3888 x 2592
Image quality: Raw
White balance: Daylight
Cropped to 35% of original image; canvas added to the bottom.
Head was lightened slightly to reduce shadows.

This spring, a pair of Red-Breasted Sapsuckers (Saphyrapicus ruber) excavated a nest cavity in a snag next to the deck behind my home and raised their brood. I captured this image of the male as he put on the air brakes to deliver a bill full of ants to the chicks. These birds were a delight to watch, and they gave me some terrific photography lessons during their 2-month nesting tenure. If there's any interest, I can put together a detailed write-up and additional images of problems encountered, lessons learned, techniques used, and information about the birds and their activities.

[Kobus Tollig]

You have done well here. Like the framing and good flashwork well done

[Desmond Chan]

Good timing and like the composition, too.

If there's any interest, I can put together a detailed write-up and additional images of problems encountered, lessons learned, techniques used, and information about the birds and their activities.

That would be great, Craig !

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Neat pose and the food items add to it. I find the trunk a bit overpowering. It would be great if you would share your experiences.

[Craig Markham]

Thanks, Axel, I agree that the trunk and upper leaves are weighty elements in this image. I did experiment with several different cropping strategies. The original image had the bird's tail nearly touching the bottom edge -- thus the added canvas. I also considered cloning away the leaves at the top, but this created too much blank air space for my taste and increased the visual disbalance of the trunk. Cropping off the top to remove the leaves and the top of the trunk reduced the visual weight of the trunk, but produced a square crop. I also printed a horizontal crop showing only the bird, but I didn't like the loss of context, and it left some visual ambiguity about what the bird is doing. The trunk makes it clear why the bird has assumed this otherwise strange position. Given those considerations, any other thoughts on composition?

RE sharing the background, what would be the best platform for that? Perhaps as a BPN gallery, or as an eZINE article? I do have a ton of material that would have to be pared down to reasonable size. Recounting some of the breakthroughs in my learning curve working with these birds might be useful to some members.
--Craig