Every now and then I take a picture of something that I see as potential artwork. While I love my birds, a picture of a bird is just that, while the abstract that can be produced with a little manipulation using a computer is a work of art. Of course all God's creatures are works of art in their own rite, if they weren't, I wouldn't be attracted to them in the first place.

This abstract started out as a picture I took of a Red Bellied Woodpecker feeding at the bird feeder on my deck. He was in a very interesting position. He gripped the feeder floor with his back feet and tucked his lower body and tail under it, so that just his head and shoulders were in the feeder. I took the shot from the side, in profile, not head on. I then increased saturation and sharpness, much more than I normally would. After this, I distorted the image with various filters in Photoshop such as twirl, and effects such as panels. I have several different versions of this, but this rendition is my favorite.

CAMERA - Canon EOS 60D
F-STOP - f/7.1
EXPOSURE - 1/400 sec
ISO - 1600
EXPOSURE BIAS - 0 step
FOCAL LENGTH - 300 mm
MAX APERTURE - 5
SHOOTING MODE - Automatic
HAND HELD - Yes
TRIPOD - No
MONO-POD - No
FLASH - No