MAJESTIC WILD BIRDS
Kaj Ove Jacobsen
With rich wildlife only 40 minutes from my front door in Stavanger, I am truly lucky to be surrounded by such beauty. I have always seen myself as a patient person, which can be a blessing when sitting in the photo hide for up to 10-12 hours during a shoot, waiting for a bird or two to show up. Or hunting for the perfect shot day in, day out. I would love to say that I get some amazing photos every time I leave the house, but that is far from the truth. As it should be - that is the way photography works and the only way you can learn from your mistakes and improve. To be honest, I also see it as a kind of therapy – just me and the camera, hoping the short-eared owl, goshawk or buzzards are out searching for food. If you’re spending the day shooting, it’s important to have all the equipment set up at least an hour before sunrise. Then if you’re lucky enough to spot a goshawk, buzzard, or eagle on the feeding, it’s important to have some self-control.
This is the part where it’s easy to scare the birds because they will be aware of everything. The slightest movement of the lens will scare the birds, and you will have lost the opportunity to get some great shots. It’s important to let them settle before you pan the lens. If you are really lucky, there will be more hungry birds and there will be fight, in which case you don’t have to worry so much about movement of the lens. They will be too busy getting a place at the table. Within minutes you will have hundreds of photos, and the day will be a success. Then every hour of every day you spent without any birds will soon be a distant memory.
This article first appeared in PRISMA, Issue 23.