Northern Flicker

[Shawn Zierman]

When you think you know, you might find that you don't...
That's what I learned on the morning that this image was made. How many times had I tried before to approach this
species, only to have them fly away... Yet on this morning, with no less than a dozen flickers spread out on this field, hammering
away at the recently thawed ground, and nearly all of them as tame as juvenile shorebirds, it was as if I was invisible. I slowly
crawled my way to several different birds and was allowed to briefly enter their world. Of course there were reasons...hunger, exhaustion
from migration, and so on...but I also want to believe there was something else...something unseen, unknown,....unexplainable.
I suspect several that read this will know exactly what I mean, even if words can't quite convey it...
SonyA300, Sigma50/500, iso400, 1/640, f10, cropped, adjusted contrast and saturation, selective NR to the bg, USM.
(Image made in Duluth, Minnesota during spring migration a few years back).
Comments and critiques welcome,
Regards,
Shawn Zierman.

[gail bisson]

Lucky you for having such a nice experience.
I really like the light and the colors in this shot.
IQ of bird is excellent.
I like your low POV and the composition. Your low POV gave you that beautiful BG and you have allowed enough FG for the rest of virtual tummy and legs.
A different image from the norm and very refreshing to see,
Gail

[Joe Senzatimore]

A fine image of a very tough bird to get close to. I may try a blind as I have had no luck getting anything close to this. Love the light and great color.

[dankearl]

This is really nice. One of my favorite birds, they are always at my backyard suet feeders and I can never get a decent photo.
A very different habitat and very well done.

[Lorant Voros]

A very different image of this species than what we are used to. Congratulations to get this done in this nice way. I'd maybe like to have more space on the bottom and less on the top. Well done.

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Love the exposure, the details, the light, the angle of capture and very good sharpness. The OOF foreground suit the bird pose very well, and good looking background too. Very beautiful image captured. Maybe a bit less room on the left.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the low angle, the few grasses, the matching BKGR colors, and the tale. The ants must have been really cold....

[David Salem]

Nice shot. Love the low SA, exposure, and detals. The FG and BG are very complementary to the flickers beautiful colors. Very sharp. Great Job

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Shawn! I like the low angle, IQ, compostion and complimentary BG.

[Robert Holguin]

Superb image!!!
Excellent low angle, wonderful light, great pose, and terrific background.
Very well done.

[Satish Ranadive]

Shawn:
Absolutely superb image.Love the composition,lights,colors and beautiful bird.

Regards,
Satish.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Excellent image. Love the commentary too...I was absorbed in your enthusiasm! Perfect low angle, these guys are often found foraging on the ground but we do not see this type of low angle image for them. Even the dirty bill works for me in this instance.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Shawn, I really like these type of images where the subject blends into the surrounding BG. The bird and his colours and detail pop nicely, sharp, and what a lovely complimentary BG too. Your crawling paid off here, and Im glad you got your shot.

[Melissa Groo]

I know just what you mean about entering the birds' world and feeling somehow you've earned acceptance via your approach, your passion, your desire to pay tribute, Shawn. This is a wonderful and unique image of a bird typically very hard to get close to. The complementary colors of the bird, the BG and the ground, are just fantastic. Great detail and IQ.

[Nico Steenberg]

Awesome low angle and soft colours. The DOF is a killer. The comp is great. Well done !

[arash_hazeghi]

all has been said above. it's an excellent image

[Troy Lim]

Awesome shot, almost perfect except it is too centered. Trimming a bit of the left to move the subject slightly off center would make this image even better.

[Arthur Morris]

The head is centered. The bird is not centered. The image design is spot-on.

[Troy Lim]

The head is centered. The bird is not centered. The image design is spot-on.

So the question is: Does this mean as long as the bird is off centered, the centered head does not matter? Personally, I still would prefer a tad off the left. It is an amazing shot.

[Shawn Zierman]

Troy, I think centering vs non-centered is largely a matter of personal taste and intended use.
I also think that implied direction of travel plays a role in determining composition. As is, this subject
is stationary. The image reads left to right because of how the bird is oriented, but nothing about
the subject's pose tells me it's headed anywhere, so, imo, the composition works as is.
Robert Royse, whose work I greatly admire, has many great examples of this type of composition in his
incredible online taxonomical collection. Take an hour (or several) and sift through those images,
it's time well spent and (may) just alter your opinion regarding centering a subject.

[Arthur Morris]

In actual size on my laptop, there is about 3 inches from the bird's bill tip to the right frame edge. And there is about 1 inch from the end of the virtual tail to the left frame edge. The bird is well back in the frame. At most, pointing the lens a half inch at most to our right would have been acceptable and possibly better for some. Anything more and you would be clipping the virtual tail.

BTW, Robert Royse is both a student of imine and friend. Not that it matters, but when he came on his first IPT, to SW FLA--maybe 15 years ago--he had a Nikon 600. The first thing that he said was "I'm not switching." He came on several more IPTs and with no prompting from switched to Canon.

BTW #2: Robert Royse can eat hotter Thai food than any bird photogrrapher, living or dead. Just ask the late Toom Vezo....

[Frank Schauf]

Very nice pose and bg colours.

[Troy Lim]

Thank you both, I never thought about the virtual tail.

[Ivan Ellison]

A really great shot, everything is spot on, colours compliment the bird well.From your write up, a really special moment well captured and one for you to remember for a long time.

[Jon Swanson]

I really like this shot Shawn as this is where we most often see them feeding. It is hard to get a good shot of something feeding in grass and you did well here. The light is great as well as the low angle and details.