Northern Flicker

Gallery: AvianPosted April 30, 2014111 views5 comments

During one of my recent local searches for owls, I found a flicker building a nest in a local park. It was a heavily-wooded area, but some late afternoon sun was occasionally filtering through on both the bird and, at times, the background.

I'm curious about what you guys think of this crop and the inclusion of the background. The mix of colors (green + warm tones of the tree) appeal to me, and I don't think a tighter crop would have been as successful since I'd still have some slivers of green bleeding through on the edges. Better to show more of the BG than only a few distracting bits of green, IMO.

Canon 1DX
Canon 500mm + 1.4x
ISO 2000
1/125th
f/5.6

Max

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on April 30, 2014 at 1:52 PM

Looks ok to me max. I like something in the back anyway- gives a "feel" to a pic.
Back on with head turn is good for me too.
JohnR

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on April 30, 2014 at 2:36 PM

Max: I like this crop. The inclusion of the background provides a better sense of place for me. I might look at a small amount of desaturation of the greens as they are pretty intense and can draw the eyes. Very nice image. Love the little bit of bark on the beak.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 30, 2014 at 5:47 PM

I agree with the others that I like the BG as shown. Keith's suggestion of a slight desat on the greens makes sense. The head turn makes it work. Good job.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on May 3, 2014 at 2:34 AM

I like the inclusion of the BG in this one Max. I think without it, the image would look more 2 - dimensional.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on May 3, 2014 at 2:34 AM

I like the spatial balance of the trunk and the bg, Max. The bit of bright sky does keep drawing my eye.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments