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pigeon with angel wings



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i think pigeons get an unfairly bad rap what with everyone calling them vermin and flying rats, i think they are actually quite beautiful...
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i think pigeons get an unfairly bad rap what with everyone calling them vermin and flying rats, i think they are actually quite beautiful
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1 Comment | Report
eelcovanroden PRO+
 
eelcovanroden September 04, 2015
Great shot and a beautiful bird, you made your point very clear!
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in Morecambe, UK, a seaside town in the north of England. The photo was taken on Morecambe's promenade, where there are hundreds of pigeons - some people feed them, others sadly regard them as vermin.

Time

The photo was taken in the early afternoon on a lovely sunny day.

Lighting

I enjoyed the way the bright sunlight highlighted the lovely iridescent patches of the pigeons.

Equipment

I used my Canon 1100d with a zoom lens (focal length 75-300mm), handholding the camera.

Inspiration

I always take my camera out with me because you never know what you might see, so in a sense there was no planning involved - I was just shooting interesting things I saw whilst out walking. However, in capturing the beauty of the pigeons, I wanted to counteract the common view that pigeons are 'vermin', 'dirty', 'flying rats' - to me pigeons are as worthy of respect as any living creature, and with their beautiful iridescent feathers, actually extremely beautiful if you take the time to really look at them. As my mum always says in defence of pigeons, they were heroes in the war, carrying messages over enemy lines! So I really enjoyed making an image that counteracted that prevailing narrative.

Editing

Very little. I prefer as far as possible to be taking photographs rather than spending hours and hours processing! This image started out as a larger image that I took as a whole flock of pigeons took off at once, so the only processing was cropping down to this individual bird.

In my camera bag

My kit consists of my Canon 1100d, a standard Canon 18-55mm kit lens, a Canon 75-300mm zoom lens and a Tamron SP macro lens with a fixed focal length of 90mm. I do also have a tripod but use it only occasionally as I am primarily a wildlife photographer and a tripod doesn't really work with moving subjects!

Feedback

All wildlife photography requires patience, but doubly so when you are trying to capture a subject in flight. Be prepared to be very still and wait for your moment, and to take lots of blurry shots and/or shots where the subject has flown out of the frame! Flight is such a fleeting thing to capture so patience will be rewarded. I'd suggest to take lots of shots anyway because the more you take, the more you will have to choose from and the more your skill level and timing will improve.

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