Piliated Woodpecker

[Ken Curtis]

Yesterday, my wife called me over to the window to see the Piliated Woodpecker on the tree about 60 ft (18 m) behind our house. I knew from past experience that he would fly if I walked out onto our deck, so I shot this through our kitchen window. Fortunately, the window wasn't too dirty!

I shot this handheld with a 500 mm lens on a full frame camera. His back and wing feathers are a bit soft. I like the story it tells, especially the rectangular holes that these birds bore into trees. He is probably a bit more than 1 foot (.3 m) high.

C&C always welcome.

[Shadowman]

Do you think the softness was from camera shake, lens quality, or camera settings?

[John 2]

Nice shot. It crisps up reasonably well in Nik Output Sharpener if you have it Ken. It is certainly worth it.

[IzzieK]

I find woodpeckers interesting -- though it better stays where it is right now...

[Geoff F]

Was this auto focus, Ken?

Looks as though the camera has focused on the bark instead of the bird's back. A common problem with auto focus.

Possibly a little bit of selective sharpening would help. But sometimes a slightly imperfect image is acceptable so I wouldn't worry too much about it; unless you enter it into a competition etc.

[CaolIla]

One of few woodpecker-photos not taken from underneath. I also guess that you have the focus on the bark. What aperture is it taken at? Hard to see that it's taken through a window.

[flashback]

...even still, it's a good shot. In my experience it's really, really hard to sneak up on a pileated, they seem to have eyes in the back of their head. I almost only ever hear them drumming and their call.

[Ken Curtis]

I used autofocus and like everyone here said; I think it honed in on the bark and not the bird. I had camera set to speed priority at 250th of a second and ISO speed 200. The image was dark and I had to brighten it in post processing. I did use Nik's sharpening, but I will try a more aggressive sharpening on the bird's back.

John asked if the softness was caused by camera shake. I don't think so because other parts are sharp. It is possible that the woodpecker moved that part of his body, but I think it was where the autofocus decided to lock on to.

[Scouse]

Great birds aren't they Ken. They're regulars up here as well. Nice capture.

Birds are a good subject in my yard so my 28-300 lens stays on standby with the D600.
Usually set at center spot, wide open f3.5 and 1200+ ISO. Gives me some good grab shots.