Bruce Michelotti
July 2025 - Red Headed Woodpecker
About the Image(s)
A friend of mine and I went to a local park this spring to check out the Heron Rookery to see if we could get some shots of the Herons in flight bringing nesting sticks home. It was a bit windy and not so good for photos, so we ventured down one of the trails and came across a group of Red Headed Woodpeckers. They were quite active and mostly high in the trees, but this one came down and posed nicely.
Shot with a Canon R5 and 100-400 lens with 1.4 TC. It was close so the zoom worked out to 400 mm. 1/320 sec. at f/8 with 1600 ISO. Processing in Lightroom and Photoshop.
11 comments posted
Wow! Red, white, and blue--the July 4 woodpecker? Very nice pose. Great job! Posted: 07/18/2025 05:44:17
Thanks Bunny. He does look blue on top, but in reality is dark black. Still good for the fourth. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:24:33
Very Nice. Sharp, colorful and interesting. At least we know this little fellow will not be arrested by ICE. Posted: 07/20/2025 20:51:11
Thanks Harley. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:25:08
This bird is fantastic, Bruce. The colors, exposure, and use of depth of field all work very well together. The choice of colors is perfect for July, and you made great use of bokeh in the background to set the subject apart. Very well done. Posted: 07/22/2025 02:44:00
Thanks Andrew. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:25:28
First, I agree with Bunny and Andrew, this is perfect for the 4th of July. The crop is perfect. This woodpecker is a star and he knows it. The colors are so beautiful. Nice highlight in his eye. Good detail in the feet. Background sets off the subject. I wounder about all the detail in the branch. I may be distracting. Camera Raw has an adjustment that enables you to blur a foreground. It is called lens blur. I tried it and all I could blur was the bottom of the branch. I used the blur tool with a bit more success. Posted: 07/22/2025 17:43:40
Thanks Mark. I usually don't use artificial blur or other AI techniques on my nature images because if I would enter one into a club competition doing that is not allowed. I know I could never remember if I did or not when I enter so I stay away from it all together.
I should have used a wider aperture to do that in camera, but I was limited to f/8 because of the tele-converter. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:30:57
I should have used a wider aperture to do that in camera, but I was limited to f/8 because of the tele-converter. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:30:57
Good point. Posted: 07/26/2025 19:39:26
A very colorful photo. The bird is also very sharp from eyes to feet. Furthermore, I like the blurry background which helps to pop out the bird. Good job! Posted: 07/24/2025 13:23:14
Thanks for your comment Leo. Posted: 07/26/2025 18:31:20