Not your usuual Pileated pose

Posted by Jim Urbach on Sat Nov 22, 2003 4:42 pm

All times are UTC-05:00

0 people like this post

First unread post

| 13 posts |

Page 1 of 1

Posting a few hours early.

There is a small park in Winter Park , Fl that has high old pine and cypress trees. A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers nest there and I have also seen red-bellied, downy and yellow sapsuckers there. For 2 afternoons I have captured images of these PWPs. Rather than post one on the side of a tree, I thought I'd show this image.

He was 12.3 meters above me and I was about 25 degrees from being directly under him. I focused on him not the branch he's on.
I cloned out an OOF branch to his right.

I have 2 questions to ask. Would one consider cloning out the black along the right side of his body and replace it with OOF leaves? Second, should I select out the branch he's on and sharpen it any?

10D, 600IS, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/30, EV -1 2/3, fill -2/3 Flash about 10 inches above the lens to prevent red eye. IS really did work.

Comments and reposts welcome.

Jim

Enjoy viewing

Jim Urbach

http://www.jimurbach.smugmug.com

http://jimurbach.smugmug.com

Posted by:
Jim Urbach
Lifetime Member

Location: Sanford, Florida
Member #:00049
Posts: 29711
Joined: 21 Aug 2003

View portfolio
Visit website

by AlexC on Sat Nov 22, 2003 5:04 pm

AlexC
Forum Contributor

Posts: 5948
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Member #:00024

View portfolio

Jim, a lovely bird and you got him sharp, the dark BG is part of the shadows from the flash, due to the fact that some of the bird is missing I would not spend the extra time trying to fix it.
Many times I spent countless hours in PS with less than perfect images, It taught me a lot , so it is never a waste of time or a total loss, Just my take on the matter!!!

[b]Alex Calzadilla[/b]
[b]Miami, Florida[/b]
[b]NSN-0024[/b]
"At the feast of ego everyone leaves hungry." - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, AZ

0 people like this post

by Bill Whala on Sat Nov 22, 2003 5:20 pm

Bill Whala
Forum Contributor

Posts: 5979
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Littleton, Colorado

Excellent shot, Jim. I love the curios pose. The black area doesn't bother me. It took me a little while to notice even after your mentioning it. The perch looks plenty sharp on this monitor.

Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"

0 people like this post

by BrianS on Sat Nov 22, 2003 5:39 pm

BrianS
Lifetime Member

Posts: 3462
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
Member #:00196

View portfolio
Visit website

Correct on 'Not your usual pose...' but man that makes it for me. Hands down one of the finest images of a Pileated I've seen. Excellent Work.

[b]Brian Spangler[/b]
[url=http://brianspangler.naturescapes.net][b][u]http://brianspangler.naturescapes.net[/u][/b][/url]
[url=http://www.naturescapes.net/membership.htm][b][u]NSN 0196[/u][/b][/url]

0 people like this post

by Bruce DiVaccaro on Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:22 pm

Bruce DiVaccaro
Forum Contributor

Posts: 18925
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Location: Sheffield Village, Ohio

Jim,

This is an excellent shot. IS sure did work. I wouldn't worry about the black area. The white feathers on that part of his body give you separation from the dark background. The perch also looks fine to me just the way it is.

Bruce DiVaccaro
Sheffield Village, Ohio
NSN 135

0 people like this post

by Safariguy on Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:23 pm

Safariguy
Lifetime Member

Posts: 744
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
Location: Tampa Bay
Member #:00191

View portfolio
Visit website

I wouldn't try to fix the BG either. I like the contrasts there and you have the details nailed, the eye is perfect. To me this might work better as a portrait of the pileated... I tried holding a paper up to the monitor and gave it a vertical crop along the right side of the branch and a little off of the bottom. I think it is a little more powerful that way....

Cheers,

Jeff
AKA Safariguy
[url=http://www.jeffwendorff.com]My Website[/url]
[url=http://www.naturescapes.net/portfolios/portfolio.php?cat=10850/]My NSN Portfolio[/url]

0 people like this post

by Mike Wilson on Sat Nov 22, 2003 6:25 pm

Mike Wilson
Forum Contributor

Posts: 16364
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: San Diego, CA

Great job balancing the flash and ambient light. Cool bird too.

Mike Wilson
San Diego, Ca
[url=http://www.naturescapes.net/membership.htm]NSN 0047[/url]

0 people like this post

by Sandy Mossberg on Sat Nov 22, 2003 8:53 pm

Sandy Mossberg
Lifetime Member

Posts: 5802
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Boynton Beach, FL USA

Visit website

It looks fine to me, Jim. I love his expression and the sharpness of his head.

Sandy Mossberg
Boynton Beach, Florida, USA
[url=http://www.sandymossberg.com][b]SandyMossberg.com[/b][/url]
NSN 0015

0 people like this post

by Alan Murphy on Sat Nov 22, 2003 9:10 pm

Alan Murphy
Lifetime Member

Posts: 27330
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Houston, Texas
Member #:00014

View portfolio
Visit website

Jim, looks great to me.

Alan Murphy
NSN 0014
www.alanmurphyphotography.com

0 people like this post

by NDCheryl on Sat Nov 22, 2003 10:19 pm

NDCheryl
Lifetime Member

Posts: 16434
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Location: Ft Wayne, IN
Member #:00026

View portfolio
Visit website

I love the unusual pose here. This is a really cool shot.

Cheryl Ertelt
http://www.photosphrases.com
NSN 0026 LTM

0 people like this post

by Jill on Sun Nov 23, 2003 10:54 am

Jill
Forum Contributor

Posts: 2978
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Miami FL

Jim, I concur with Sandy, Alan and Cheryl !!! Nifty pose for sure !!!

Jill Rosenfield

0 people like this post

by Bruce Sherman on Sun Nov 23, 2003 4:00 pm

Bruce Sherman
Forum Contributor

Posts: 4421
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Rockport, TX

Visit website

Jim,
Wonderfully sharp image. I like it just the way it is.

0 people like this post

by Russ Chantler on Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:47 pm

Russ Chantler
Forum Contributor

Posts: 58
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Location: Southern Ontario

Visit website

The dark black outline along the edge of the perch next to or on the bird bothers me. Maybe it's a shadow from the flash but whatever it is it makes the image look "wrong". Maybe instead of sharpening the perch, you should look at doing something with that edge.

0 people like this post