Dickcissel – Tallgrass Prairie Preserve; Pawhuska, Oklahoma: I have made three trips to the tallgrass prairie and can’t wait to go back. I love the prairie in spring when the flowers bloom, and birds in their finest breeding plumage sing their territorial songs.
This Dickscissel was photographed on one of the tallest weeds in its territory as it proclaimed its dominance for all its rivals to here. Using my van as a blind I drove within 18 feet of the perch and photographed the bird from the van using a window mount tripod head. The combination of a long telephoto lens, extension tube and close proximity provided the scene with a shallow depth of field. The shallow depth allowed the distant prairie grasses to blur into a solid mass of color and isolated the subject from the background. In painting this technique of placing a bird against a solid, uncluttered background is know as the Audubonesque style. It is certainly one of my favorite styles to shoot.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 500 f4, 24mm extension tube, Digital Capture ISO 200
