Greater Spotted Woodpecker GSW

[Steve Kaluski]

• Canon EOS R3
• RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
• ƒ/10
• 400mm
• 1/400s
• ISO 25600
• Steve Kaluski
• Wed, 02 August 2023 5:27 PM
• www.untamedimages.co.uk
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.5 (Macintosh)

I'm assuming this one is a Female, however if the back of the head isn't visible it can be hard to know who is what. With no visible red on the back of the head, I can only assume this is a Female. Some will wish to evict the Himalayan Balsam green plant poking up, this area is swamped by this vigorous plant. The compression doesn't worry me as in PS and when printed its is super clean.

Another high ISO, no problem.

Steve

Subject: Greater Spotted Woodpecker (F) (Dendrocopos major)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon EOS R3
Lens: RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Exposure: 1/400s at f/10 ISO25,600 EV +0.33
Original format: Portrait, small crop from the top
Processed via: LRC 12.5 & PS '23 24.7.0

Attracted by fat ball

 

[Jonathan Ashton]

Good clean shot, it almost has a wintery feel to it, I like it. Colours look very good as do details. The rain drop doesn't trouble me, the green OOF doesn't either but I sense if it was blended in slightly the overall presentation would be slightly improved. The pose of the Woodpecker shows a clear view, had the tongue been out or some other behavioural feature been shown the image would have gone up a notch.
Not too familiar with Canon lenses anymore I guess that the lens did not have a wider aperture (i.e. was f10 a requirement?)

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Jon, hope all is good at your end.

The shot was taken last month in that monsoon we had, where light was minimal and the rain was in biblical proportion.

In answer to your feedback:

The rain drop doesn't trouble me, the green OOF doesn't either but I sense if it was blended in slightly the overall presentation would be slightly improved.

No not blended, DoF was too much to retain the streaks of rain compared to other images.

had the tongue been out or some other behavioural feature been shown the image would have gone up a notch.

Definitely

Not too familiar with Canon lenses anymore I guess that the lens did not have a wider aperture (i.e. was f10 a requirement?)

The kit set up is locked down, using some of the kit I use on a Land Cruiser when shooting from the passenger seat. The 100-500 defaults to f/7.1, the subject was between 2-3m away so I needed a bit more DoF, plus there are times I shoot, where I shoot for processing. Knowing that at ISO25k when imported into Lr and it has that crappy default Adobe Colour (needs deleting) the image looks like it's shot through a pair of Nora Batty's tights. So applying NR it will smooth things out so Im trying to get as much in focus and the toggle the balance. Well that is my thinking right or wrong.

 

[Jonathan Ashton]

Cheers Jon, hope all is good at your end.

The shot was taken last month in that monsoon we had, where light was minimal and the rain was in biblical proportion.

In answer to your feedback:



No not blended, DoF was too much to retain the streaks of rain compared to other images.



Definitely



The kit set up is locked down, using some of the kit I use on a Land Cruiser when shooting from the passenger seat. The 100-500 defaults to f/7.1, the subject was between 2-3m away so I needed a bit more DoF, plus there are times I shoot, where I shoot for processing. Knowing that at ISO25k when imported into Lr and it has that crappy default Adobe Colour (needs deleting) the image looks like it's shot through a pair of Nora Batty's tights. So applying NR it will smooth things out so Im trying to get as much in focus and the toggle the balance. Well that is my thinking right or wrong.

Understood...and your line of thought appears logical to me. (When I referred to blend I meant make more diffuse/less apparent).

 

[William Dickson]

A nice look at the GSW. Lovely feather detail and good control on the blacks/whites. Sharp from head to tail. The perch is just the right diameter to show the bird. Good HA and I really like the claw grabbing the perch.

Hope I get the chance of these tomorrow in the rain.

Will

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers Will, will drop you a line. :w3

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve ... very nice solid shot of this WP .

A dream to shot at those high iso levels and get such stunning results .... we should be very happy with gear and software as per today .

Perfect IQ

TFS Andreas