Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos Major)
West Coast of Scotland, August 2022
Nikon D850, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6
f/6.3, 1/320s, ISO 2500, 480mm
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with woodpeckers. After many years of photography, I still find it incredibly difficult to get a good shot of them.
i) I find them very flighty, so I end up a long way from them. I don't like to disturb birds if at all possible.
Secondly, they are often far up a tree. This creates an angle for the image that is less than ideal.
And C, they are often in deep shade, making the shooting conditions very challenging.
I have many photos of poorly exposed black and white blobs, covered by leaves and branches, and if I am lucky, a splotch of red.
In this case, we had hired a bird hide from the National Trust for Scotland for the afternoon/evening, about a £20 donation, which is well worth it just to escape from the midges. What I was really hoping to see was a Pine Marten, so I wasn't too concerned about the light for photography; I just wanted to see one.
As it turned out, the viewing point was surrounded by a dense tree canopy at the base of a very steep hill, if not a mountain. It was also 5:30 pm in August in Scotland, and therefore overcast and raining (love you guys!). And someone had forgotten to tell the Pine Marten that I had paid good money for an appearance!
In the end, I had to settle for some of the best views of Red Squirrel and Woodpecker that I have ever had, so I forced myself to take some pictures - the hardship!
Actually, the photography conditions were pretty brutal. I leaned heavily into the lens stabilization, shooting handheld and well under 1/focal length, and pushing the ISO into the mid-2000s.
I had my tripod but found the space and viewing angles too restrictive. The D850 did a great job of noise control, certainly better than my D7200 could have managed, and I could have doubled the ISO without too many problems.
I should also have used the lens wide open at f/5.6, but it's become a habit to stop it down to f/6.3, where it is noticeably sharper.
The result? I was still two stops underexposed when I came to process it. Lightroom to the rescue!
I do find it worth reviewing what I did when I get into this situation, trying not to be too judgmental with perfect hindsight, but learning whatever lessons can be learned.
In the end, this is probably the best photo I have of a woodpecker, so no real complaints, and I actually rather like the more subdued lighting.
It's a reminder of the reality of a fantastic day.
