Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dave_Taylor

Dave_Taylor

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Dave
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I hadn't taken my Canon 500mm L lens out to photograph any birds for 23 months (Dec 2010) and was thinking of selling it. But today I ventured out and it felt good to be back in a hide again. Fortunately the birds performed well so I managed some decent pictures too, which is always nice.

This one is probably one of the better ones. (Unedited - just resized for internet)

gsw-1.jpg
 
Great shot. A little (more) pp could make it zing
 
Wow...what a gorgeous shot.
 
would you share with me your setup?
Did you use a tripod?
What settings did you use?
I am trying to learn....
thanks - Jon
 
@ SEPKent
The pictures were taken at a feeding station, one where people are allowed to place props and some feed to entice the birds in (not sure many will let you do this). The log with the moss on was placed on top of a tree stump about 5 to 6 meters from the hide. The camera lens was rested on a beanbag. Peanuts were placed on the other side of the log to keep them out of shot.

The only settings I remember altering on the camera were ISO 400. The woods were quite dark/in shadow. I set the white balance to shady which makes the colours a little more punchy.

I did manage some other shots that day that are OK, but it's nice to get a good woodpecker picture.
 
Thanks very much. What software do you use to process? my last question I promise. By the way - Great shot.
Dave_Taylor said:
@ SEPKent
The pictures were taken at a feeding station, one where people are allowed to place props and some feed to entice the birds in (not sure many will let you do this). The log with the moss on was placed on top of a tree stump about 5 to 6 meters from the hide. The camera lens was rested on a beanbag. Peanuts were placed on the other side of the log to keep them out of shot.

The only settings I remember altering on the camera were ISO 400. The woods were quite dark/in shadow. I set the white balance to shady which makes the colours a little more punchy.

I did manage some other shots that day that are OK, but it's nice to get a good woodpecker picture.
Click to expand...
 
If getting shots like that doesn't get you back out wanting to use it I don't know what will!

Great shot.
 
SEPkent said:
Thanks very much. What software do you use to process? my last question I promise. By the way - Great shot.
Click to expand...

I haven't done any post processing as such on this image. I haven't even tweaked the levels. All I have done to the image is resized for the internet and save it. (It's not even cropped). I do have access to Photoshop CS3. I did shoot in both raw and jpeg simultaneously but haven't even worked out how to open the raw files as of yet. Photoshop won't open them directly so I guess I may need some software. (I'll sort it out when I'm bored one day)

I don't like editing picture, and if you are entering them into a club competition you are usually not allowed to edit nature shots. I think it's much better to get the right in camera.
 
@ SEPKent
I took these pictures at the same time, again unedited other than a slight crop of the birds as they are smaller. Forgive the poor quality of these, the originals are on the other computer and the daughter is using that at the moment, so I ripped these off of my Facebook page so they are only low quality. Just sharing them with you in case you find it useful.

BT1.jpg


GT1.jpg


NH1.jpg


NH2.jpg
 
This will give you an idea of what the setup looks like. (These were taken a couple of years ago, but it hasn't changed much.)

setup2.jpg


setup1.jpg


Hope this has helped you.
 
Gosh, I'd love to go somewhere like that and simply try to get great shots like the one in the original post! Truly stunning!

Maybe one day though :p
 
@ SEPKent
Actually, they Facebook ripped images don't look that bad.
Finally, place props near to the feeders. If you look in the one setup picture you can see a teasel, taped to a stick and shoved in the ground. Next to this was a feeder hanging slightly out of shot. What happens is when the feeder has filled up with birds they tend to sit on the prop as they wait for a chance to get onto the feeder. You can then get some shots like these. Again, unedited, taken a couple of years ago though.

IMG_9446.jpg


goldf2.jpg


In the other setup pic you can see some Redpoll on the mossy log. If you zoom right in onto them then you get shots like this one. Not a competition winner by any means but still a reasonable picture.

repoll.jpg


Hope the tips help you.
 
Most helpful - thanks very much. I really appreciate it - Amazing images seeing as they haven't been worked on at all. Great. You have a great hide and the birds obviously love going there. I'd love a place like that. May try and set something up in the garden. Not sure what we'll get - but if they come i'll post up what I can find. Thanks again. Jon
 
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