Downy Woodpecker
Uploaded: October 31, 2005
I photographed this male downy woodpecker from my birding blind in my backyard. I set up a feeding station for the birds, and lured this guy to the perch with some chunky peanut butter smeared on the backside of a nearby log (they LOVE it - red-bellied woodpeckers do, too).
I had a 300mm f4 Nikon lens on the camera with a Kenko 300 Pro 1.4x teleconverter. Also I had an SB-800 flash with a Better Beamer flash extender, and to a nearby tree I lashed a slave SB-600 for even illumination. I had the flashes set to about -2EV.
This guy was quick - took a couple of weeks to get this shot in the late afternoon sunlight.
When I set up the perches, I was sure to have nothing in the background for several yards so that there would be no distracting elements to the background at f5.6-f8, the apertures I usually shoot birds with to maintain depth of field.
Janine Russell
October 31, 2005
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