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Chestnut-colored Woodpecker

Image # 1D2_04943

Tortuguero Park River/Canals

 

Canon 70-200L/f2.8 IS at 200 mm

ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/250 second

Manual Exposure, 550EX at 0 EV

Handheld

 

This was definitely one of the highpoints of the trip for me. Alex spotted this woodpecker a little way down the canal, and it stayed long enough for us to get a few shots. Its beauty was just breathtaking! These are not seen very often, and it was definitely a first for me. During the boat tours at Tortuguero, I'm usually shooting with the 600L/f4 IS on a tripod, but we had just gone down one of the smaller canals, where light was limited, and the shore was much closer than on the main river. I had just taken the 1DMk2 body off the 600, and attached the 70-200, better suited for these conditions. If I hadn't, I would have missed this shot entirely! As it is, this is a moderate crop, and I would have preferred to have the 1.4x teleconverter on, but there just wasn't time - if I had tried this, it would have been gone before I was ready to shoot! One of my all-time favorite shots, for sure!