Taken at First landing SP in Virginia Beach, VA. Sony A700, 70-400G, f8, 1/500, iso800, +0.7ec
50% of FF. PP in PSE8, I cloned out a bunch of vines and berries all around the bird, the sky was blown so I changed the color using photo filter, boosted contrast and de-saturated reds in the crest. USM.
I see this species regular, but have few oppurtunities to get this clean a shot. For that reason, its a keeper for me.
Peter, The large crop shows in the head area. the fine feathers at the top of the crest seem to still have some white from the original sky. I think you did a great job with all the post processing work that you did. I can't find where you cloned, so that is good! I may have cropped this with a tiny bit less tree and a little more on the right. I think the rule of thumb is 1/3 tree 1/3 bird 1/3 sky.:)
Pileated WP
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