Hairy Woodpecker

[Joel Eade]

Another from my backyard setup
1D3
500mm
ISO 640
f/5.0
1/1250
580 EXII + Better Beamer -2 1/3 stops
Manual mode and evaluative metering

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Joel,

Happy Holidays - this is a nice pic and the texture in the feathers looks good, moreover I really like the tonal ranges. The simplicity of the subject, perch and muted background make a great combination - the eye looks a bit worked to me?

Tell me about the setup what is the background and thanks for sharing another solid setup shot.

[John Chardine]

Hi Joel- I like this image too- as Jeff said, nice and simple. For my tastes the image is a bit over-sharpened. I would try toning this down a little. The sharpening of the noise can be seen in the eye and I find an effective solution to this is to run some selective de-noise on the smooth parts of the eye.

[Joel Eade]

Thanks Jeff and John.

The background is a small set of woods that is just far enough behind my yard to be OOF. This time of year all the leaves are gone and the sky is gray (that's close to a song lyric isn't it?)

I did an extra bit of sharpening on this one....maybe too much, I agree with you. Here at work on my Dell monitor it's too crispy.

I did lighten the iris slightly and remove the flash catchlight bit no other selective eye work.

Thanks for your help and Happy New Year

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Joel,

Thanks for the update, you always have such a clean muted background - well done. Is the gray background the sky?

[Joel Eade]

Joel,

Is the gray background the sky?

Yes, it's the sky filtered through tall trees (sans leaves).