WINNER CATEGORY LAGE LANDEN 
Alex Pansier | Big Wing

Name: Alex Pansier
Picture title: Big Wing
Category: Lage Landen
Nationality: The Netherlands, Maashorst
Occupation: I’m a full-time naturephotographer

Technical information
Camera: Sony A1
Lens: Sony 400mm f2.8 lens + 1.4x teleconverter = shot on 560mm
EXIF: 1/6400sec at f4 with ISO 640
Accessories: No specific accessories were used, not even a tripod. Instead, I opted for a higher
shutter speed to be flexible in finding the right angle.

Alex Pansier says:

For a long time, the black woodpecker was on my wishlist. I find the graphic bird with its red accent absolutely stunning! The challenge for me was to find one, and by chance, I stumbled upon a nest next to a bike path in the De Maashorst nature reserve in the Netherlands. Night after night, I stood at a respectful distance to see if there was any activity. The nest was quite high up in the tree, so I needed the distance to take a shot that gave a feeling of eye level—an intimate shot. That’s why I chose to use a 1.4x teleconverter on my 400mm lens. After a few evenings, I already had some fantastic shots, but I felt like something was missing. At the same time, I noticed that the sun was shining precisely between the leaves on the tree, as it was still early in the year and the trees weren’t fully covered in leaves yet. How beautiful it would be to play with the shadows that would blend perfectly into the black woodpecker. Now, the challenge was to time it so that the sun would illuminate just the head of the woodpecker without shining on the edge of the nest hole. That way, I would get a mysterious shot where only that lovely red cap, his eyes, and beak would be visible. Using my TPE (The Photographer’s Ephemeris), I was able to gauge the sun’s position, so I went a bit earlier in the following days. The exact moment should be at 16:51. Now, I just had to hope that the woodpecker would come out then. And luckily, a few days later, it happened. Around the scheduled time, a parade of cyclists passed by, after which the woodpecker curiously peeked his head through the hole. That was the moment I was able to take this photo. I was thrilled! When I got home, I immediately checked the catch on my computer. Yes, it was also sharply focused! And then, I also noticed the shadow on the light portion of the tree. It looked like a wing of the woodpecker. That was an extra bonus. That’s why I chose to name the photo ‘Big Wing.