Lbrown
Member
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I shot this one at a place called McDowell Prairie near Charlotte.Sony A9, FE 200-600mm G
600mm, 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 100
Red-headed Woodpecker, North Carolina
- Thread starter Lbrown
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Sony A9, FE 200-600mm G
600mm, 1/250 sec, f/8, ISO 100
The red-headeds are such a beautiful species! Wonderful image!
BAL Land
Well-known member
I like everything about this except for the crop, the bird is way too far left.
BlackRockArt
Well-known member
Very nice bird.
Some how I find the image a bit soft, at 600mm, I wouldn't shoot at 1/250s, it's just a bit risky.
Oliver
BAL Land
Well-known member
Didn’t even realize the settings…the photo looks sharp to me, but why 1/250 at ISO 100 when on the A9 you can get away with much higher ISOs with no issue?
Definitely agree with the comments on the crop (too far left). Also does appear a bit soft around the eye/head. I do find the palette of colors very pleasing.
Lbrown
Member
True...1/250 is about as low as I will go. Raising my ISO a few stops could have got me 1/1000 and a little sharper.
I love the redheaded woodpeckers. In this image, the blue and green colors of the background work well. Overall the image is successful, so all my comments are with reference to small details.
It does look a little soft to me. Some of that may be resizing and posting for the web. Was there much cropping?
There also appears to be a soft shadow on the face of the woodpeck and running across half of the eye. It looks like it was causes by a small amount of leaves or pine needles. I'd probably try to lighten the shadow area about .7 stops or so.
I recall this lens is pretty sharp. I'd try to shoot at a faster aperture if that's possible. It will provide a little smoother background and support the faster shutter speed.
You might try reducing shadows and contrast in the background - especially the darker splotches on the right. Or crop slightly tighter so the dark areas form a vignette.
If possible, I'd like the head looking slightly toward the camera. It's looking vertically up the tree, and with the camera angle gives the impression of facing slightly away.
Lbrown
Member
Not much cropping, maybe 30%. It was resized for the web so a lower rez image.
Nothing was in the way on the face, but the sun was coming over my right shoulder so creating some shadow (around 10:00 am).
Fastest is f6.3 @ 600mm and I was stopped down at f8...not sure if less than a full stop would make a diff on the background.
I have another shot of him looking slightly at the camera and I see what you mean. Will try and post on this thread.
Thnx for your feedback Eric!
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I like this one a lot better. The difference in the head angle looking slightly toward the camera is a key improvement. The first one might be a discard due to head angle, but this second one is quite good.
This last one is much better to me, I miss seeing these Red-head woodpeckers. We use to have several around our local lake but haven't seen or heard any in over three years.
BobbyV
Well-known member
The second image is very nice. I totally agree with Eric's head angle comment above. Makes a big difference to me.