I went out hunting for Bluebirds, and this Vermillion Flycatcher sitting on a barbed wire fence ended up being the one I liked best. I normally prefer birds in flight, but I just like its pose, and the simplicity of colors here.
Any comments appreciated!
D500 with 500mm lens.
400mm, f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 100. Handheld.
What a great head turn Mark. I actually like the perch for the shallow depth of field you’ve got here with the wire going soft out of the left of the frame. The background is nice and creamy too. Beautiful bird.
Great catch on some nasty looking wire, Mark. Well done! The background is perfect.
You went for blue and got red instead! This is just a fabulous shot - so much detail and personality. I’ve never seen one of these before so it’s a treat for me. I’m glad it was perched since I can imagine how fast they fly and hunt. Evil looking wire for sure, but that background is to die for. Super job!
This is such a beautiful, minimalistic image. I don’t normally like it when my bird is on a wire and wish it would be on a tree or something natural. But I think the wire actually adds something to the image as a whole. Don’t even have to mention the background and the perfectly posed bird. But if it were on a branch instead of that wire it wouldn’t have the same impact in my opinion. Great capture, Mark!
Lovely, Mark. The last time I was in Arizona, I fell in love with these and spent three mornings trying to get this good an image. An excellent image.
Bokeh!
Awesome barbed wire!
Minimalist!
Those are the first 3 thoughts when I saw the image.
The barbed wire makes the picture in my opinion. There’s the juxtaposition of man and nature, the unexpectedness of seeing a bird on that kind of knarly barbed wire almost brutalist in it’s shape.
Excellent capture
Thank you @David_Haynes , @David_Bostock , @Kris_Smith , @Vanessa_Hill , @Dennis_Plank , and @andronik for taking a look and adding your thoughts. I’m glad you liked this. I was wondering and going back and forth about posting this “bird on a wire” image, but like you I really liked the look of the sharp barbed wire against the softness of this beautiful bird. Thank you!
All said above – this is just excellent!! The pose with the tangled wire and DOF are perfect. That bird has excellent taste!
An excellent image and the dreamy BG is perfect for the shot. Flycatchers are feisty and the barbed wire is a perfecvt perch for this guy. Awesome…Jim
Oh my, is this a painting? As other people have commented, the barbed wire provides an unexpectedly interesting perch, not only in terms of a strong composition but also because the bird’s claws echo the shape of the metallic barbs to its right and vice-versa! Plus the colours are luminous and pleasing and the bird stands out beautifully against the super soft background blur. Winning shot!
Thank you @Jim_Zablotny and @LauraEmerson ! I really like that barbed wire and how the feet kind of mimic it.
