My Best Shot Of The Day

raianraian Registered Users Posts: 260 Major grins
edited June 13, 2006 in Wildlife
This was my best shot from today. It's probably not up to par compared to what I see here.. but I was THRILLED to have seen this bird and then to have gotten a half-way decent shot of him... thrilled again. He was about 40 feet up in a tree. I was able to move around the base of the tree a bit but could not get a perfectly clear shot of him because of the foliage. But all in all I'm pleased with this.

Pileated Woodpecker

pileated1.jpg

Comments

  • Dick on ArubaDick on Aruba Registered Users Posts: 3,484 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    ...although the circumstances where difficult, the picture came out nice. Good work!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Dick.
    "Nothing sharpens sight like envy."
    Thomas Fuller.

    SmugMug account.
    Website.
  • riddim_makerriddim_maker Registered Users Posts: 1,835 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    Wow, never seen one of these before. I take it that these are rare birds so any capture is a good one. Thanks for sharing Raian
    Russ
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    One of the problems with birds is there tendency to hang out in trees which have a tendency to have all these leaves on them. Its very hard to get an unobstructed shot or a good focus on a subject who has leaves and branches all around them. The impressive thing about this shot is the good focus you got on the bird. thumb.gif
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • raianraian Registered Users Posts: 260 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    The Pileated Woodpecker is not that rare around my neck of the woods but they are rather ellusive.

    I shot this on Manual Focus. Harry, the lens seems not to do well if there is stuff in front of what I want to shoot... i.e., those leaves.. the lens tries really hard to focus on the leaves in the foreground and it will actually lock up my camera. I was thinking initially this was a camera malfunction.. but realized if I took AF off and focused manually I did not have these problems :D
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited June 12, 2006
    raian wrote:
    The Pileated Woodpecker is not that rare around my neck of the woods but they are rather ellusive.

    I shot this on Manual Focus. Harry, the lens seems not to do well if there is stuff in front of what I want to shoot... i.e., those leaves.. the lens tries really hard to focus on the leaves in the foreground and it will actually lock up my camera. I was thinking initially this was a camera malfunction.. but realized if I took AF off and focused manually I did not have these problems :D

    Very important lesson there, you're smarter than that dumb old camera. In shots like that with leaves , branches, etc obstructing your subject its virtually impossible for the camera to figure out what you want to focus on. You have to step in and do it yourself. The same will go for exposures. You will usually be better than your camera in determining the proper settings.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • jwearjwear Registered Users Posts: 8,013 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Harryb wrote:
    Very important lesson there, you're smarter than that dumb old camera. In shots like that with leaves , branches, etc obstructing your subject its virtually impossible for the camera to figure out what you want to focus on. You have to step in and do it yourself. The same will go for exposures. You will usually be better than your camera in determining the proper settings.
    well said and good advice as you shoot more you will move and wait for the clean shot thumb.gif somedays are just dirty or have Mike move the leaves :D good shot
    Jeff W

    “PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”

    http://jwear.smugmug.com/
  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    I believe this is the bird that Walter Lantz modeled Woody Woodpecker after.

    So......Ha...Ha...Ha...Ha...Ha...!!!:D

    With every success comes knowledge.....you're gettin' smarter all the time.
  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Cool shot, Raian!

    I SAW my first woodpecker, ever, this spring. Missed that shot. Finally got a shot of a woodpecker later in the spring.

    I was over the top with glee, so I can imagine that you were excited.!

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • raianraian Registered Users Posts: 260 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    Jeff, I DID wait on this bird and shot more than this one shot.. but he wasn't playing fair and kept going higher in the trees and also he'd keep moving around the trunk so I couldn't see him.. the buggerumph.gif

    Ginger, you will more shots.. hang in there. I've seen Pileated's around my property (although it could be the same bird). As a matter of fact as soon as I was done shooting this guy I spied a Downy Woodpecker in an adjoining tree but the shots of him weren't as good. I keep trying and practicing.
  • jeff lapointjeff lapoint Registered Users Posts: 1,228 Major grins
    edited June 13, 2006
    raian,

    Nice work here with the difficult conditionsthumb.gif And on manual?clap.gif

    -j
    www.lapiz007.smugmug.com


  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited June 13, 2006
    Nice job of isolating the bird in the bush like that, Raian. I've yet to see a live pileated. They're rather magnificient, and you don't see too many photos of them for some reason.

    Regards,
    -joel
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
Sign In or Register to comment.