Eastern Wood-pewee.

[Daniel Cadieux]

My first decent photos of this very common species. Although very common, it likes the tree tops and thick foliage. I've heard these guys' distinctive "plaintive" song so many times I've lost count!! I've tried luring them via audio dozens of times over the last couple of years...different individuals, different locations, different times of year, with or without a blind...always to no avail, and barely any reaction from them - if any at all.

I was about to give up on this species, but I tried the audio again a couple of weeks ago when I heard yet another one...BAM!...this one instantly came down and perched right in front of me...and stayed long enough for full-frame verticals.:cool: Moral of the story: never "quit" on a species...you just never know!

Canon 40D + 100-400L @400mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/200s., f/6.3, ISO 800, +0.7 EC, natural light (dark overcast), handheld. Audio. Dodge tool used to lighten around the eye and lower part of the belly (fill-flash would have been a better option). Green cast on subject created by lush forest neutralized via Colour Balance.

[Fabs Forns]

Adorable pee-wee, nicely placed in the frame, good HA (You are a HA officer :) ) and I like the cobweb you decided to leave and BG.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Nice picture and lesson too. Well sized perch, spiderweb adds some detail too,nice post work.

Cheers

Randy

[Aidan Briggs]

Hey Daniel, lovely BG, exposure, and HA. I like the cobwebs on the perch. The edge around the tail looks a bit funky, maybe from backlighting?

Well Done!!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Daniel, really nice. loved the BG and the textbook pose. I was going to suggest a crop from bottom to eliminate the extra branch but then the cobweb string would look odd. So I guess this works fine.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Daniel, lovely BG, exposure, and HA. I like the cobwebs on the perch. The edge around the tail looks a bit funky, maybe from backlighting?

Well Done!!

Thanks Aidan! Yes, those pale thin outer tail feather edges are letting some backlighting seep through. The very edge of those do look odd though, don't they? The uneditted RAW file has the same quirk to it...

[Rick Dobson]

Great image Dan of this elusive little guy. I especially like the BG and perch. My experience is the same as yours... I hear them calling but never any reaction to the audio. Well now I know not to give up.

[Arsdel Fluesmeier]

great shot Daniel. Good color ande pose.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Its beautiful Bhai.. nice details, perch and BG, worth the wait... well done..

[Hendri Venter]

Great detail and the BG rocks. Well captured and presented Daniel.

[arash_hazeghi]

I like the composition in this one, perch not only looks nice but balances the composition well. everything else is great too

[Stu Bowie]

Dan, what I like here, is the curved perch going into the frame, together with the pewee perched on the highest part at the end. Lovely pose, against a great OOF BG. Another vote for having left the cobwebs.

[Bill Dix]

Beautifully captured! Killer pose and background (and cobwebs). I've had the same experience with these guys, not coming out of the treetops and deep woods. I'll keep trying. Not only did you get the species; you did it beautifully!