Northern Shrike.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I was working a busy bird feeder when all the birds suddenly scattered. I looked to my right and saw this beautiful Northern Shrike perched and alert. About the size of a robin, this a predator that will chase down another bird until it is too tired to go on and then pounce for the kill. I've seen one chase a Blue Jay, which is bigger than a shrike, for well over five minutes around trees and through tangles until the action disappeared deep in the woods. That jay was doomed....

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/5.6, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, FF, usual eye work, extra contrast and deepened the blacks to add punch to an otherwise dull-looking raw file to start with.

[Isaac Grant]

Beautiful Dan. I love shrikes. We get so few of them around New York City that they are always a special treat. Excellent perch and pose. I really like the crop. Love this one. What plumage is this in? Looks in between adult and 1st winter.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, I like your choice of comp, as it suits the Shrike perched high in the frame. Overall well exposed, sharp, and the high key BG rounds the image off very well.

[Bill Dix]

The hi-key presentation suits this bird perfectly and I love the comp and pose. And your usual fine techs. Well done.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Daniel, lovely image. Very nice color palette with the whites, greys, and black. You did not mention if you captured this as a vertical, the tail looks a little tight to me. Take a look at a 2x3 horizontal adding canvas if needed... see what you think. Thank you for sharing.

[dankearl]

Lovely species and nicely done. I might have cropped a bit more off the bottom so the perch came right
in at the corner.

[John Mack]

Very nicely done, like the perch and head angle.