Greater Flameback woodpecker Male with a catch

[RAM MALLYA]

Shot this hand held as i did not have time to setup tripod.


Shutter speed 1/100
Aperture F/4
ISO 400
Lens 600 mm IS Canon
Camera body 1D Mark II N
Hand Held
C&C welcome

[Randy Stout]

Ram:

When the action is happening, you have to try and do the best you can. You would have missed this one for sure if you fiddled with your tripod.

Prey item adds a lot. I rarely see the wood peckers actually catching something. Probably so fast they swallow it quickly, where as this item is big enough it probably took a little longer.

I might go for a more traditional wood pecker crop, come in a bit from the right, and add a little on the left. The big black area on the right isn't too attractive.

Not sure why you put another water mark on the birds primary feathers.

good job overall!

Cheers

Randy

[RAM MALLYA]

Randy ,
Thanks for the comment . Actually this fella was not swallowing the insect but storing it in the holes it had made for later use , may be for the chicks as its the breeding season of these birds .

[Randy Stout]

Ram:

Thanks for the info. Makes you want to watch that spot, hoping he will come back for a snack!

Cheers

Randy

[girisholeti]

This a lovely shot. Agree with Randy on the crop.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Pretty cool to get it with the catch and a big catch at that. I'm voting for the crop change as well.

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful WP, enhanced by the prey. Ditto Randy's comments about crop and watermark. Great shot as is; tiny bit of head turn would have put it over the top. Is this a large crop?

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Ram, nice catch. excellent colors. I also thought it looked like a big crop...DOF looks quite a lot for wide-open 600.

If thats the case, then you should be having good options of cropping. I'd also suggest the typical woodpecker comp...1/3 for BG, 1/3 for bird and 1/3rd for the tree trunk.

nice, nevertheless....esp. considering the species and the prey.

[Mark Itol]

Lovely capture of this colorful fella, Ram. Great job handholding the 600. I agree with the comments on cropping.

[yogesh_puranik]

wow..very nice sharp and colors image..lovely..superb image

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. Great action captured, superb detail, and exposed well.
Well done.

[RAM MALLYA]

Thanks every body for the comments please check the Re-post with changes and comment .

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice, great sharpness for 1/100sec and the repost has addressed the crop issue. the prey is a big bonus!

[Ofer Levy]

Great image!!!

[Randy Stout]

Ram:

Repost is an improvement!


Cheers

Randy

[anujgandhe]

splendind colours. sharp and 2nd crop is simple amazing. the reddish colour on his Dorsal feathers is a normal feature is it? never seen before.... Execellent shot

[Bill Dix]

Much better with the repost. Great capture.

[Sandesh R.Dhareshwar]

Excellent frame Ram

[Angad Achappa]

The repost looks great Ram, excellent sharp for hand holding at that SS.