Male downy woodpecker

Critiques [Translate]

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• Kilted-Arab (8186)
• [2011-02-28 15:57]
• [2]

Hi Lori - there are some good points here and I'll start with those :-)

Bird photography isn't easy, so kudos for trying and making a good job of it :-) The colours of the bird look fine, it's bright enough for me and I like the angle of the tree, the slight diagonal is more interesting than something completely vertical, I think.

Now, my thoughts here - firstly, a bit of a general one. I get an impression that your bird shots could be a touch sharper, but I'm not sure what the problem is. There may be an issue with camera shake - a rough rule of thumb is that the shutter speed should be at least 1/focal length. I think you shot this at 500mm, so that would equate to a shutterspeed of around 1/500. That can vary depending on various factors, but it's a good rule of thumb.

Another way that may help the sharpness here is the general composition. It's very tight on the bird and I think you could afford a little more space above and to the left. Whether the crop is down to pp work or was decided in-camera I don't know - but either way more space may help.

FYI the sharpness isn;t *bad*, it's just not spot on :-)

Anyway, good overall shot :-)

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• AKITA (20294)
• [2011-02-28 16:56]

dear Lori,
a wonderful picture of beautiful woodpecker,
its vertical figure is very lovely,
especially the sharp mouth, the stripes of face and the red mark on head are splendid,
blueish color in the shadow is attractive against blurred lighted back,
thank you for your excellent shot,
Akihisa

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• dsidwell (1219)
• [2011-02-28 17:26]

These are such cute birds, Lori. Your capture is very nice indeed. Clear image and the depth of field works very well.

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• brech (3045)
• [2011-02-28 18:28]

Lori,
Another nice image of this woodpecker.

The rule-of-thumb Kilted-Arab speaks of may help you get that final bit of sharpeness for your wonderful bird portraits.

Keep those bird shots coming because you have some amazing variety of images.

LAB

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• eldancer1 (23784)
• [2011-02-28 20:33]

He look so sad...got stood up, dude? Very nice capture though. I like the colors. Great dof with nice blurry bg. Well done, tfs.

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• fransx (41704)
• [2011-02-28 22:41]

HI Lori,
Another great bird shot of this woodpecker in such a smart upright position.
Beautiful profile with the plumage well described.
Good lighting and a wonderful bohek BG.
Sharpness is a little weak!
My best regards,

Francis Xavier

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• RSK (14753)
• [2011-02-28 23:07]
• - [workshop] [compare]

Hi Lori,
You are indeed lucky to have such a variety of birds in your area to shoot with your camera.I like this colorful woodpecker
& how you have used a tight crop to better show him off.There seems to be a blueish cast to its feathers,is that it's normal coloring?as I'm not that knowledgeable in bird recognition. Also I took the liberty of doing a WS for you,hope you don't mind.
TFS
Regasrds
Ron

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• claudees (691)
• [2011-03-01 3:40]
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• dipsybee (2456)
• [2011-03-01 3:59]

Hi Lori,

Another super shot from you. Lovely composition and colours on the bird. I don't think he is too dark you have that lovely bokeh background to compensate.

Regards

Joy

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• tnahari (26007)
• [2011-03-01 5:52]

Dear Lori
another sweet bird caught with your camera. it looks so soft and tender. beautiful colors. nicely composed on the trunk.
shalom
tsilla

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• john1 (8448)
• [2011-03-01 6:29]

Hi Lori,

Great capture and excellent POV of the woodpecker.
Excellent sharpness and détails of the plumage, light and B/G are splendid.
TFS.
My best regards.
John

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• werdir (11957)
• [2011-03-01 7:18]
• [+]

Hi Lori,

This is a nice shot of the male downy, always a pleasure to see one. Some excellent suggestions regarding camera shake and shutter speed have already been made, so I won't go back into that. There's also another consideration that hasn't been mentioned and that is that the shutter speed may too slow for a quick bird like this. If you look closely at the claw an lower body, the sharpness is much better than the head, shoulder and upper body in general. These guys move quickly with their hammering, so he might have just started to move here. Just something to think about concerning shutter speed.

Warm regards,
Werner

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• HienVy (4273)
• [2011-03-01 19:40]

Very nice photo of a woodpecker, Lori
I think It would look better if leaving a little more space on the top.
TFS
HienVy

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• Stefan41 (90)
• [2011-03-02 7:51]

Very beautiful capture.
I like it.
Greetings, Stefan

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• nicou (50772)
• [2011-03-02 9:11]

Hlelo

Un captage parfait avec le tronc et ce noeud qui fait comme un oeil et ce oise avec le pattes, comme il s'accroche à la branche, splendide.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

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• sela (8213)
• [2011-03-04 2:43]

HI Lori, congratulation for this shot of a beautiful woodpecker. Very well composed and all details are clear.I only hear our woodpecker, but can´t see him or catch him with my cam:-(((
Regards Rose