![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/downy-woodpecker-3851b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"downy-woodpecker-3851b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAnd the Achilles’ heel of a long focal length,\u00a0prime lens.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Two days ago while I was photographing adult and fledgling Yellow Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains this adult male Downy Woodpecker flew in and landed in a tree very close to my pickup. So close I couldn’t fit all of him in the frame (even though they’re our smallest woodpecker) so all I could do was go for a head shot. I like the good detail close shots provide but I’d rather have the entire bird and\u00a0I don’t like the out-of-focus branch so close to the\u00a0woodpecker’s\u00a0face.<\/p>\n I did quickly grab my smaller zoom lens for a few shots but by then he had moved further up the tree and I didn’t like\u00a0those images. As far as I’m concerned this is the\u00a0primary shortcoming of a quality prime (fixed focal length, no zoom) lens – birds can be too close. I wish I’d grabbed my smaller zoom\u00a0lens in the first place instead of spending any time on him with my 500mm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Two hours later after I’d returned to the same spot this adult male landed in another tree much further away. At first I thought it had the look of a very young\u00a0juvenile but when I looked at the image again last night I realized that juvenile males haven’t yet developed the red patch on the back of their head. So this may be the same bird as earlier but I can’t be sure.<\/p>\n Normally this bird would be too small in the frame for my tastes but the more I look at\u00a0the image\u00a0the more I like it. He’s placed perfectly on the branch for the leaves to frame him, I like both the natural setting and the background, the pose and the light angle worked out, the bird is sharp\u00a0and for me the image just has a good feel about it.<\/p>\n To be perfectly honest I’m not positive this bird isn’t a Hairy Woodpecker instead of a Downy but from the size of the bill I lean towards Downy.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And the Achilles’ heel of a long focal length, prime lens.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/downy-woodpecker-4342-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"downy-woodpecker-4342-ron-dudley\\"")
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