
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
- ƒ/8
- 700mm
- 1/400s
- ISO 800
- Daniel Cadieux
- Flash not fired
- Sat, 03 March 2018 11:19 AM
- Daniel Cadieux
- Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
I observed and photographed both a male and a female Pileated Woodpecker excavating a potential nest site for the forthcoming breeding season. I thought it was early for that but I even saw them mating deeper in the woods, so the preparations are definitely underway. Here, the female paid no attention to me as she worked on a rotten log for nutritional goodies. The background was not pretty for full body images, so I went in close and aligned myself with the snowy BG for a high key result. She kept raising her head like this about every 10 seconds, so the trick was to pre-focus, and look at an empty viewfinder until she'd raise her head again and pop back into view. Quick re-compose and critical focus, and fire off a few before her head disappeared again. Repeating as necessary.
Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/8, ISO 800, natural light, handheld, added a bit of canvas top and right, deepened the blacks via burn tool.