I have been working on a mini project lately to get some flight photos of the UK crow species. The main reason for this is they tend to get a little overlooked as being 'boring black birds' which they are certainly not. Another good reason is that I can photograph jackdaws and rooks in my office car park during my lunch hour which beats staring at a computer. The other photos here were taken at a site I have been feeding for a long time to try and get some jay flight photos which I will come on to later.
Starting off with the Magpie, a much maligned bird here in the UK but very beautiful and an exposure headache!
The Carrion Crow
The real targets for this project were rooks and I had some real fun with them. Now most people think of these as a black bird but they are far from it when the sun hits them. I have done a couple of photos first in B&W as this is how most seem to see them.
In the good old UK drizzle
This is how I see them with their wonderful blue and purple sheen
Some jackdaws also started appearing with the rooks.
To finish off I am still working on the jays which are proving very tricky but now getting close to getting some shots. I managed this one the other day doing a rocket impression.
Very cool post Richard. Hard to pick out a favourite. I agree that this is an interesting family of birds; people call them pests when actually they go around picking up after us.
Richard,
I'm guessing a rook and a raven are closely related?? Maybe same bird with different name. They certainly are incredible in the sunlight. Love the jay style rocket!
Robert
BTW make sure you put a crow/rook pix or two over on Wacky Roger's "Big Black Bird" thread.
That is some dedicated fantastic shooting work here sir! Wow, impressive poses, outstanding exposures and fine presentation make these very intersting. Great job in showing the differences, keep up and keep sharing the fantastic efforts!
Wonderful series Richard... really very well done.
The techs are extremely good including your exposure control on some tricky subjects.
You captured some really cool IF's and all with great eye contact.
These are all very good but I especially enjoyed #1 and the last two.
Excellent work.
Kirk
P.S. It would be helpful for critiquing purposes to number your images.
That is a super one of the Magpie, Richard. They are very hard to get near to here and I suspect in most places.
Well done on bringing these great pics of the crow family, its often disregarded and not one thats easy to get the exposure right on either, but you did a great job on these. Love your B&W ones too!
Very nice one of the rocket Jay. Would have been even better with some wing span but thats often the luck of the draw.
Martin
Robert rooks and ravens are a different species. I haven't got round to the ravens yet but have a site to go and try for them this winter.
Tim its definately a good way to spend your lunch. I like to have a lunchtime project close to the office as a an hour spent with camera is a good stress relief in the middle of the day.
I am going to try the jays again tomorrow morning and hopefully will get one in flight showing its wings! The main problem with the jays, apart from being very shy, is their flight tends to be quite erratic.
These are super shots. The Magpie images are really eye catching and I think your second Jackdaw shot is a great capture.
Well done on the Jay in flight, they are such nervous birds it is tough enough to see one let alone get a decent image. Look forward to seeing more from this project.
which beats staring at a computer. The other photos here were taken at a site I have been feeding for a long time to try and get some jay flight photos which I will come on to later.
