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Great Spotted Woodpecker (Storspett)


Great Spotted Woodpecker (Storspett)
Photo Information
Copyright: Gert Ellstrom (ellis49) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3387 W: 343 N: 9480] (30807)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-02-09
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm / F2.8 L USM, Digital RAW 200, Canon Extender EF 1.4x II
Exposure: f/8, 1/800 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-02-11 4:48
Viewed: 1647
Points: 64
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
First I will thank all for the nice comments and words of my last post.

Today’s post is also a pretty common bird up here, the Great Spotted Wookpecker, Större Hackspett or Storspett. It was a beautiful day with good light, blue sky and very sunny but a bit cold -15c in the morning. It’s taken at our feeding station and this bird is quite shy and often keep distance but I think he was hungry and come an settle only a few meters away.
Almost to close, I missed a couple of mm of the tail; it was no time to switch the camera to portrait mode. The bird was a bit nervous and all unnecessary movement had scared him away.
I used a Canon 1d mark II borrowed from a friend since my is send to Canon for repair.
I hope you like this woodpecker.

It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia. It is largely resident except in the colder regions of its range.
It is an inhabitant of woodlands and parks, depending for food and nesting sites upon old trees. It is often an inconspicuous bird, in spite of the plumage. The large white shoulder patch is a feature that catches the eye.
Great Spotted Woodpecker is 23-26 cm long, with a 38-44 cm wingspan. The upper parts of the male are glossy black, with a crimson spot on the nape and white on the sides of the face and neck. On the shoulder is a large white patch and the flight feathers are barred with black and white. The three outer tail feathers are barred; these show when the short stiff tail is outspread, acting as a support in climbing. The under parts are buffish white, the abdomen and under tail coverts crimson. The bill is slate black and the legs greenish grey,
The female has no crimson on the nape, and in the young this nape spot is absent, but the crown is crimson. It may be distinguished from the smaller Lesser Spotted Woodpecker by the crimson on the abdomen.
There are several subspecies, including the prehistoric P. m. submajor which lived during the last ice age.

Source and more info in different language here

Canon 300mm/F2.8 L, 1,4X Converter, Tripod
ISO 200, Raw-format, manual exposed, spotmeteing Converted in Canon DPP
Levels, Contrast, Crop, resized to 800 pixels, Smart Sharpen ,PP in PS CS4.
Well calibrated Eizo monitor
Morigann, marhowie, MMM, uleko, valy67, cloud, flashpoint, siggi, nglen, vanderschelden, jaycee, Noisette, Tamrock, pekkavalo1, Luis52, CeltickRanger, haraprasan, bobcat08, Juyona, Alex99, horia has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Morigann: No flashellis49 1 02-11 05:03
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Critiques [Translate]

Salut Gert!
This is a superb capture of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
I like very much this woodpecker.
Good sharpness with beautiful natural colors, lens help ;).
Superb low POV and nice OOF BG.
Just a question did you use a flash for this capture?
Well done
Regards
Pierre

  • Great 
  • MMM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 921 W: 0 N: 1985] (8905)
  • [2009-02-11 5:09]

Hi Gert
Excelent capture of that Woodpecker.Great POV and perfect lightning.Your image is very sharp with excellent plumage detail.Nice colors also.
TFS Michel

Hi Gert,
very beautiful shot with excellent sharpness.
Nice colors, too.
TFS Tatjana

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2997 W: 162 N: 968] (2839)
  • [2009-02-11 5:43]

Hej Gert,
I can't compete with your sharpness but I'm quite proud of mine even so! :-) This is lovely showing Woodie very clearly against the snow in the background. Lovely natural colours too and well composed!
TFS and cheers, Ulla

Hello Gert !
Great picture of one of the most beautiful birds I know ! Everything on this picture is just perfect - sharpness, details, colors, composition, POV, BG, pose of the bird... It's a real pleasure to look at, specially for this winter mood with cold colors in the BG and snow on the tree (we didn't have much snow this year, in France, I miss it.) Very well done !
Valérie.

  • Great 
  • pvs Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1168 W: 261 N: 3035] (13835)
  • [2009-02-11 5:59]

Ha Gert,

A wonderfull capture of woody,we had a nice day yesterday,but today it was overcasted again,on my usual place in the forest I havent seen woody this year,so maybe he has moved North or to the South as ulla as well posted a Pecker today,tfs

Paul

  • Great 
  • zetu Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 649 W: 15 N: 1607] (6263)
  • [2009-02-11 6:04]

Hello Gert
Like all your photos this is a great shot. Wonderful colors, good light and sharp details.
Regards.
Razvan

  • Great 
  • cloud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 297 W: 71 N: 758] (4689)
  • [2009-02-11 7:07]

Hello Gert,
You've had very good light and the bird have splendid colours, sharpness of the plumage.
Best regards, Pawel

Hi Gert,
Fine details with excellent DOF, color, POV, and comp.
Difficult to get the exposure right with the birds B&W plumage, nice job :)
TFS,
Howard

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3821 W: 190 N: 11376] (35063)
  • [2009-02-11 7:48]

Hej Gert,
A perfect capture of a male Större Hackspett. You made good use of the fine lighting to achieve excellent sharpness and the composition on the treetrunk is ideal against the OOF snowy BG.
A beautiful portrait Of this species!
TFS,
Hälsningar,
Ivan

Nu har vi fått 15 cm kramsnö och snön vräker ner! Det blir ljust när solen tittar fram!

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2395 W: 94 N: 5542] (17634)
  • [2009-02-11 8:12]

Hello Gert,
Wonderful photo of this woodpecker. Amazing clear colours and very good sharpness and details. Superb POV, composition and OOF BG.
Regards,
Peter

Hi Gert,
it's such an amazing moment to see this bird - and you captured it so sharp and brilliant.
You had good light, the details are excellent.
Thanks and greetings
Sabine - wishnugaruda

hello Gert!
excellent sharpness and perfect use of light well managed in this beautiful capture of
the woodpecker .. great quality and professional

ciao sERGIO

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1378 W: 56 N: 4747] (16330)
  • [2009-02-11 10:59]

Hello Gert,
Very good close up of the Woodpecker. Excelent detail showing the red on the head. a nice Pose in the tree. well done TFS.
Best regards Siggi

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2912 W: 34 N: 8640] (32202)
  • [2009-02-11 11:03]

Hi Gert. This is one of the best pictures of a woodpecker i have seen . Your POV and DOF are first class .Which has let us see full detail in the colourful featehrs. You have made good use of the light . Interesting notes too. well done TFS.
Nick..

Hello Gert,
Colourful and very sharp fellow.
Well photographed. What an opportunity...:-)
Thanks for sharing.
Annick

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2493 W: 11 N: 6885] (21912)
  • [2009-02-11 11:52]

Hi Gert,

As I said to Ulla, this must be National Great Spotted Woodpecker Day in Sweden. They are such beautiful birds and it is a pleasure to see two in one day. Wonderful pose, colors, and details showing him off well. A nice vertical composition.

Jane

Hello Gert
great composition of this woodpecker hanging on this snowy trunk, this shot is very sharp with many details on his feathers
beautiful colors and lighting
very well done
Jacqueline

hej gert!
du gnäller om lite stjärtkapning,va tror du
de blev för mig med 600mm på:)
canonskaaarpt och snyggt!
åker till villa i helgen ev. om vädret vill
good work mf

Hi Gert,
Excellent capture of Great Spotted Woodpecker; great POV, good composition, sharp fine details, nice catch-light on eye, bright beautiful colours.
TFS
Pekka

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1110 W: 5 N: 3457] (12761)
  • [2009-02-11 15:57]

Hola Gert.
Exelente y fina imagen de este colorido Pajaro Carpintero. La pose y nitidez resantan en esta bella foto.
Saludos
Luis52.

hello Gert

beautiful photography of the Great Spotted Woodpecker,
shot with fine POV, appropriate vertical framing,
excellent luminosity and very beautiful colour tones of the image,
great sharpness and details, and that very small catch-light
that render the photo more beautiful, TFS

Asbed

Hello Gert,
This must be a female with those Long Eyelashes! A beauty of a shot of this woodpecker. A rare catch to be this close. I have been within 8 feet of a Pileated once by accident as I turned a corner and he was tapping out his song on a broken trunk at eye level. A beautiful image here, Well done...
Steve

Hello Gert,
This is a splendid shot of this ornate Woodpecker,in typical woodpecker pose on the side of a tree.
Good exposure with details seen in both the lightset and darkest areas on the birds plumage.
Very good sharpness and composition too.
Nice one Gert!
Cheers,
Steve

Hi Gert,
A nice capture of this beautiful woodpecker. Very well composed with excellent sharp details. I like the tight framing but I think a little more loose framing could have looked much better (Just my taste). And I know a photographer like you must have done it many times. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Hello Gert,

What a beauty. Amazing clarity, and of course perfect natural colors. Fine details with excellent DOF and POV. A very natural compo.

Thanks for sharing. Have a nice day and TFS BOB

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2001 W: 226 N: 6845] (24727)
  • [2009-02-13 9:04]

Stunningly sharp shot of this Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Incredible level of detail in the plumage.
Great, vivid colours.
Excellent DOF and BG.
Slightly too bright on my screen (I think our two moniters are slightly different to each other) but the lighting is nice and even.

I would love to come to your feeding station one day :-D

Very well done,
Joe

Hello Gert,
Exceptionnal shot with so nice details and colours. Not an easy shot I suppose... because those birds can be very nervous and did not let you time to adjust your tripod and camera. Congratulations,
Catherine

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2264 W: 10 N: 2632] (15573)
  • [2009-02-16 11:14]

Hola Gert,
the lighting is beautiful
and clean colors ...
attractive capture, I hope your camera is ok:))
saludos amigo.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3585 W: 143 N: 5672] (18539)
  • [2009-02-17 9:59]

Hi Gert.
First of all I am amazed with synchronous your and Mikael work. Both of you have shared amazing, outstanding in every aspect pictures of a fine woodpecker. This species also is in my fish list during my digital photography biography. Not having good shots of the bird I am very happy to watch your masterpieces. All is superb. Fantastic BG (you have really terrific lens), ultimate sharpness and details of the bird and trunk, awesome rich colours and nice composition. My reetings and TFS.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2173 W: 219 N: 4384] (14904)
  • [2009-02-20 0:57]

Hi Gert

First of all: i'm glad you decided to stay with us here on TN. I'm very sorry to see some of our good old friends go, too, but i can't help thinking that for us the love of nature is a bit greater that the fear of loosing a dollar or two when posting here. I know what IB have done is wrong and i understand the members that are leaving completely. I'm only saying i'm glad you stayed :)

We've seen many Great Spotted Wookpecker shots here on, but somehow when i'm asked about on, one of your photos comes to mind.
This is an emblematic shot, with some amazing details and colors, perfectly reproduced here. The light on the woodpecker is excellent and the fact that you've clipped a few mm from the tail is totally negligible...i wouldn't have noticed if you wouldn't have said it in your note :)
Anyway, overall spot-on work with your friend's camera, too. I see you've adapted quickly to it :) Did it feel "more professional"?

Cheers and TFS
Horia

PS: If i remember correctly, you said you couldn't come to the TN meeting...didn't you change you mind by any chance?

Hello Gert,
Spectacular close up, beautiful colors, superb sharpness, depth of field and clarity good composition and pov, outstanding clear sharp image.
TFS
Angela

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