Black-cheeked Woodpecker
The Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) is a vibrant resident of humid tropical forests stretching from southern Mexico to northwestern South America. I photographed this individual in Capurganá, Chocó, Colombia—a coastal village where dense rainforest meets the Caribbean Sea. The woodpecker had landed briefly on the trunk of a palm tree, its red crown illuminated by a shaft of natural light. The soft green backdrop of the forest created a natural vignette, letting the bird’s posture and color command the frame.
This image was taken with the Canon EOS R5 using the RF 800mm lens paired with a 1.4x extender, giving me 1120mm of reach. With the aperture fixed at f/16, I raised the ISO to 3200 to manage the dim conditions under canopy cover. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/180 second—just fast enough to freeze the moment without motion blur. Working handheld at that focal length is always a challenge, but I relied on stability, timing, and luck to catch this clean composition before the bird darted off. It’s one of those brief, beautiful encounters that makes fieldwork so rewarding.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
Black-cheeked Woodpecker
The Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) is a vibrant resident of humid tropical forests stretching from southern Mexico to northwestern South America. I photographed this individual in Capurganá, Chocó, Colombia—a coastal village where dense rainforest meets the Caribbean Sea. The woodpecker had landed briefly on the trunk of a palm tree, its red crown illuminated by a shaft of natural light. The soft green backdrop of the forest created a natural vignette, letting the bird’s posture and color command the frame.
This image was taken with the Canon EOS R5 using the RF 800mm lens paired with a 1.4x extender, giving me 1120mm of reach. With the aperture fixed at f/16, I raised the ISO to 3200 to manage the dim conditions under canopy cover. The camera selected a shutter speed of 1/180 second—just fast enough to freeze the moment without motion blur. Working handheld at that focal length is always a challenge, but I relied on stability, timing, and luck to catch this clean composition before the bird darted off. It’s one of those brief, beautiful encounters that makes fieldwork so rewarding.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer