Portrait of a mockingbird

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Portrait of a mockingbird

January 22, 2013 by Mike Powell

Have you ever tried to will a bird or animal to change its position slightly to enable you to get a better photo? That happened to me this weekend when I came upon this Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos).

I crept close to him and positioned myself for an unobstructed shot with a beautiful blue sky in the background. The only problem was that the mockingbird was facing the wrong direction and his head was in the shadows.

So I started a mental conversation with the mockingbird, imploring him to turn slightly in my direction so that the light coming from the right would put a catch light in his eye. I didn’t dare to get any closer and continued to repeat the thought, “Please turn your head toward me, but don’t look directly at me.” Without moving his body, the mockingbird slowly turned his head and offered me an almost perfect profile shot and held the pose.

I like the way his tail and his claws turned out, but most of all I like his face. I think the mockingbird would be happy with this portrait.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Cameron Run, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Mimus polyglottos, Northern Mockingbird | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on January 22, 2013 at 8:49 pm | Reply Sydney Fong

I heard of this before but never seen it. Thanks for sharing!
on January 22, 2013 at 9:02 pm | Reply Sue

Bird whisperer…
- on January 22, 2013 at 9:03 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  telepathic whispering….
on January 22, 2013 at 11:47 pm | Reply elizz

what a lovely portrait.. i’ve been trying to take photos of birds that visit my garden but i could only do at a distance..
on January 23, 2013 at 12:08 am | Reply lylekrahn

Great photo. But if you’re that good next time you should be able to make it do something even more interesting.
on January 23, 2013 at 6:33 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

If you could get it to hang upside down for a bit, that would be a shot! I laughed when I read this, thinking of all the times I’ve wished that a plant was in better light. Or didn’t have all that ugly brush behind it. Or wasn’t leaning so much…
- on January 23, 2013 at 6:43 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I am just glad that nobody is photographing me when I contort myself to try to frame photos in the best way possible.
on January 23, 2013 at 7:04 am | Reply caleephotography

You’re a bird whisperer Mike!! Great shot 😀
on January 23, 2013 at 10:23 am | Reply Vicki

I will have to try this.. the light and color in the bird’s eye is perfect.
on January 23, 2013 at 8:22 pm | Reply Jenny

wonderful image, love the detail
- on January 23, 2013 at 8:25 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I was able to get reasonably close and the lighting was good, which increased the chances of me getting a good shot.
on January 23, 2013 at 10:50 pm | Reply sketchjay

I am a Mockingbird fan and this photo is lovely! A beautiful pose!
- on January 24, 2013 at 4:39 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. Getting a clear shot of any bird is a challenge for me and I am happy when things come together as well as they did here.
on February 18, 2013 at 10:51 am | Reply melmannphoto

Talking to birds is a sure sign of something, even when in pursuit of a well lit portrait!