I was lucky to capture this male northern flicker in my backyard perched on a branch. Most of the time they’re on a tree trunk.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
Even though the subject had its back to me I enjoyed the angled left/looking right stance, and the interesting background (even though it was close by and busy). Oh, and I liked the branch too.
Technical Details
Z9, Nikon 200-500 lens, monopod, 1/1600th, f 8.0, 615mm, ISO 4000, cropped to 3723 x 2814, Photo AI
Dave, the pose is perfect. It gives us a wonderful view of the Flicker’s back and the head turn makes it work well.
Even though the background is busy, it’s enough out of focus not to be a distraction. I also like the side lighting. You’ve managed to get the head and eye nicely sharp and bright enough.
I love Flickers. Each spring a male makes a home near us and every morning, just before dawn he starts hammering away on the flashing of our chimney. Wakes up the whole house.
The bird and perch look great - but the background is a bit too bright and competes a little with the bird, especially the white patches. Could you tone this down a bit with the Highlights slider?
Nice pose you caught here Dave and also nice to get the full bird sharp. Love the backwards glance. I like the perch too as it curves through the image. I agree with Mike on the background - it is rather distracting.
I like the pose and nothing wrong with seeing the back of the bird when you have such a nice look at the head. I like the branch as well. Agree with the others about trying to tone down the background.
