Hairy Woodpecker portrait

[Joel Eade]

Back yard setup...I was too close for this larger bird as I was working with some finches....I could not get the entire bird in the frame so I went for a portrait.
1DMKIV
500mm f/4L I
1.4 TCII
Tripod
Manual mode
Evaluative metering
Top center AF point manually selected, rear focus
ISO 1600
f/5.6
1/160
580 EXII + Better Beamer 1/64 power set manually via histogram check

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Joel,

Nice job going for the portrait, often people forget head shots can be compelling and discard images without thinking creatively. The composition is alright with me but seems to be missing something. Of course that is subjective lets see what others say. I like setting the flash manually, many pros do that and the results in this case are spot-on.

I love the detail as you know, portraits are among my favorite bird photos and I LOVE critically sharp photos! The detail is impressive and colors are fantastic. Well done and IMO some of your best work.

[Kerry Perkins]

You made a nice portrait from the situation and I like the extra detail that it shows. Exposure and color balance spot on as always, good job! One of my (many) remaining challenges is to understand how to get woodpeckers to look at me. I envy your collection of these birds looking right down the barrel.

[Joel Eade]

You made a nice portrait from the situation and I like the extra detail that it shows. Exposure and color balance spot on as always, good job! One of my (many) remaining challenges is to understand how to get woodpeckers to look at me. I envy your collection of these birds looking right down the barrel.

Thanks Kerry and Jeff, I appreciate your critiques and comments as always.

I don't have a fool-proof way of getting the woodpeckers to look my way, as you know they move their heads around continuously so I usually just keep focusing on their eye and snap the shutter when I see a good head angle. They still manage to move out of optimum position many times. On occassion, if the bird is particularly tolerant, you can make a little sound and they will turn toward you. (I figure you probably know that but thought I would throw it in).

[Kerry Perkins]

Joel, I do know about kissing and spishing, but I think I need to learn how to make a sound like a grub worm... Artie has a really interesting sound that he makes, and it even startles me when I hear it.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

It would be interesting to have a beer and listen to the noises we make to get their attention. I have heard many and my own is goofy but at times it works. I once was with a pro who used a sheet of paper to make a muted soft sound that he said was 100% fool proof and in that case it worked.