Description
LOCATION: Dutch Antilles
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: Patience is the name of the game when working with flamingoes. How long can you possibly hold perfectly still without itching a scratch or swatting a mosquito? I would hold so still in this knee-deep water, that the flamingoes would occasionally wank across my back, thinking I’m just a log. But what your seeing here, is how they feed. They dip the beak into the water, and sift from side-to-side, filtering out tiny crustaceans using the comb-like serrated beak. And he stomps on the sand with his feet to stir up more of the sediment. So when that sediment settles, it would fall on my 9.5″ glass dome lens port. He’s seeing those grains of sand (floating in mid water from his perspective), maybe thinking they’re crustaceans, and is pressed right up against my lens sucking in the sand! And again, the only movement of my body for hours, was my index finger clicking the shutter.
I think my two favorite things about laying in 14″ of water all day in the blistering sun, was listening to their “honk-honk” noises, and the cuteness of their black toenails, looking like they had just stepped out from a pedicure. And I gotta say, that crazy eye – there’s a lot going on in there! Makes you ask… is this guy trippin’?
And there’s another pink flamingo shot you might want to pair it with – check out the trio in Pink Ladies.
TO PURCHASE DAY TRIPPIN’ AS AN ALUMINUM PRINT: Order here in standard sizes up to 72″ tall, or contact our design team for custom sizing and crops for prints up to 120″ tall.