Airbourne Assault, a photo from New South Wales, East

Photographer's Note

The other day I drove into my street (Inner West - Sydney) and thought a re-make of the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" was occuring. The street was abuzz with birds - big and little.

Then I noticed they were doing mid air stalls and catching small insect. It took a while to focus my eyes on their pray, but yes they were very small insects - everywhere in the street - so were the birds.

Raced inside the house; grab camera - quickly change to long lens and back into the street. It was not an easy process to capture the event. However, here I present a large bird making an airbourne assualt - launching itself from the overhead power lines.

WS shows another big bird stalling mid air to catch the prey. Note how the wings and legs are outstretched in order to create wind drag to stall mid air and gather prey. Fasinating I thought, I would not have stopped and studied this previous to my TE life. :))

bobocortis, phwall, jlbrthnn, delpeoples, skippy007 ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2010-05-09 5:22

Fantastic! Looks like one of those American planes. Excellent capture, my friend.
Antonio

ifege (47069) 2010-05-10 0:48

Great one Graham and you managed to get the mad yellow eye of the currawong in the photo as well.
cheers
Ian

bobocortis (16090) 2010-05-10 5:17

Hello Graham.
Even in my land there are more and more birds, especially crows and gulls that enters the city, sometimes landing on the top of parked cars!
Nice shot, well frozen moving.
Best regards.
Bobo.

mafegan (8626) 2010-05-10 14:42

Hello Graham
Crazy photo - that yellow eye seems to be heading straight for your camera. Great action photo. A moment in time well captured at 1/1000 secs. TE and photography in general does make you look at everyday events through more appreciative eyes. Well seen, Marlene

phwall (6787) 2010-05-12 4:34

Hi Graham,
That yellow eye is sensational.
Perfect capture, perfect timing and perfect sharps.
Good work on the composition too, you've placed him in just the right spot.
The power lines add a lot to the image.
Superb work mate.
Cheers
Peter

jlbrthnn (76043) 2010-05-13 12:03

Hello Graham,
The photograph is very strange and impressive, one has really the impression that this eye looks at us. You had chance, it is an excellent realization and the ws too. Cheer.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

delpeoples (60342) 2010-05-14 4:27

GDay Burraman, hows things? Interesting composition here, really unique. I actually prefer the WS, they're both great combining nature with graphism. Very interesting what goes through you mind my friend, but it's a great effect. Enjoy your weekend, Lisa

gunbud (34066) 2010-05-19 15:20

G'Day Graham,
Wonderful shot of the cruising magpye lunching on the wing.
The wide wing span is brilliantly seen against the clear blue sky.
Regards, Tom

skippy007 (12510) 2010-06-09 2:49

Hello Graham, You are lucky it didn't swoop down on you, they can be nasty little buggers. Nice capture, well frozen, amazing how clear the eye is. The electrical wires rather than being a distraction they tell us that this was most likely taken in suburbia. Well done, Keep at it my friend, as you noticed we begin to look at the world around us differently, thanks to photography & TE.
Take care
Santo