Pigeons

[Joel_W]

Between the stresses and demands of work, family & home responsibilities, free time for a shoot is a precious commodity. Honestly, the best I can manage is a once per week deal, so when the opportunity comes along, I jumped at it, and yesterday was one of those days. Naturally, the only time I could get out was 1:30-3:30 pm on a bright and cloudless day.

I opted for a local pond that is winter home for hundreds of Geese, Ducks, Seagulls, and Pigeons. Here's are some Pigeon pictures I really like.

And thanks for spending the time to look.


DSC_0082 by jaw101, on Flickr


DSC_0104 by jaw101, on Flickr


DSC_0083 by jaw101, on Flickr


DSC_0094 by jaw101, on Flickr



DSC_0012 by jaw101, on Flickr

 

[PapaMatt]

Nice work, I really enjoyed looking at them. Thank you

 

[Austin Greene]

I had a special connection with a pigeon, or rather I did once, and his name was Emerson.

You see, we had a crazy one around my workplace (a residence hall here at UCD) that would swoop down and chase after people at seemingly random times. On occasion he would perch on a bike, at others he would just sit atop a light post and watch people go by. He was named after the building we all live in, Emerson Hall, and most everyone called him by name in passing mention.

One day, as I sat outside, the crazy little bugger waddled right up to my shoe, and hopped on. I was dumbstruck. Here I was with this "demonbird" as the residents called him, just perched happily on my shoe. Only after a number of minutes did I realize that this whole time Emerson was not "chasing" or "attacking" residents when he flew towards them feet outstretched, but instead that he was only looking for a place to land, to rest. He was looking for someone he could trust, and until now he had only been batted away by fearful hands. Yet the simple creature continued to look regardless of society's rejecting him time and time again.

So I did what anyone would, I tried to pick him up. Sure enough, I got pecked at, and he pecked hard, but I was persistant, and soon enough he decided it wouldn't hurt anything to perch on my hand. So there he sat enjoying some midday sun, as I enjoyed watching the "crazy bird" groom.

At a point, I thought it would be nice to bring the old bird some bread. It took me 10 minutes of persuading just to get him off my hand. I ran inside and got him a leftover piece of toast I had yet to eat. After arriving outside Emerson was gone, and for a moment I thought it was all just a fluke, but something told me to sit again, so I did. Sure enough, here came the old bag, waddling right up to my shoe and awaiting my hand as a perch. I picked him up, and once he settled in, watched him enjoy the treat I had brought. We sat for easily an hour, with Emerson filling up on what I suspected was the best meal he had eaten in some time, and me enjoying every minute of watching such an amazing creature. I couldn't understand why he had chosen me to trust, and I didn't care, I only appreciated his unique company.

Eventually, I decided it was time to return to my studies. I walked Emerson over to a nearby perch, and he hopped off my hand after a little coaxing. I didn't know it, but this would be the last time I would see Emerson alive. Just sitting there in the crook of that tree, happy to have a full belly.

It after about 20 minutes of being inside that I had two residents come running up to me.

"Hey, your the RA that was holding the bird, right?"
"Yeah, whats up?"
"Emerson's dead. He was just hit by a car in the parking lot."

My newfound friend, misunderstood by so many, was dead less than half an hour after my having fed him his last meal.

So I walked outside, and sure enough there he was, the victim of an abusive relationship with a car tire he had no doubt tried to make friends with just as he had with me. Tears welled up in my eyes, surprising me since I almost never cry, but something about my brief time with Emerson made me reflect on so many aspects of my life. I was lucky enough that a caring resident came out, and volunteered to go bury Emerson in our local park.

As I stood there I noticed a single feather Emerson had left on the pavement. That feather still sits here on my desk, reminding me everyday of what it means to trust, how fragile life really is, and how we should appreciate even the most unusual of company.


So, thats my pigeon story. I just felt like sharing, so take it for what you will, but I'll tell you that I've never learned so many life lessons from such a simple creature

 

[JSER]

Rats with wings, shame as they are pretty birds

 

[Forkie]

YAY PIGEONS!

Probably the most under appreciated bird ever. They have the perfect shaped wings for in-flight shots. They are the text-book bird in terms of shape, size, feather layout and flying style - if I had to design a standard, no-frills bird it would be the pigeon.


Untitled by Forkie, on Flickr

Untitled by Forkie, on Flickr

Smile by Forkie, on Flickr

 

[sam7771]

Some amazing shots what camra you using?

 

[Joel_W]

Some amazing shots what camra you using?

Nothing special. Just an old Nikon D70S with a 55-200mm lens. Still works just fine, but I'm about ready to upgrade to a D90.

 

[jriepe]

Joel, nice shots of a very colorful bird. As a child I had on two separate occasions caught a pigeon in a barn at night time and kept them as pets. They can be tamed down so fast that they will hang around without flying away and without being caged. But they will fly away if pushed. What I mean by that is I had a pet pigeon on my shoulder as my little sister and myself walked up the road to my great uncle's house. My little sister wanted to show our uncle how tame the pigeon was so she tossed it into the air and the pigeons came flying back to us. At her age and small size she didn't toss it high enough to suit me so I told her she didn't know how to do and I threw the pigeon into the air. Maybe the pigeon thought I was giving it a hint because it flew off never to be seen again by us.

Jerry

 

[sam7771]

A D90s an amazing camara but do you need it?

 

[Joel_W]

A D90s an amazing camara but do you need it?

I would really like to move up to a CMOS sensor, have 100 ISO rather then a base of 200 ISO, & 6.1 mega pixels isn't even average these days. Other then those issues, I'm thrilled with the performance of the D70S

 

[PixelRabbit]

Nice series Joel, #2 is a really nice capture of the iridescence in the neck

 

[sam7771]

I would really like to move up to a CMOS sensor, have 100 ISO rather then a base of 200 ISO, & 6.1 mega pixels isn't even average these days. Other then those issues, I'm thrilled with the performance of the D70S

Yea i know how you feel but im just using a nikon coolpix p500 i wanna get a lense adptor for it but you now how thing are these days always busy

 

[Joel_W]

Nice series Joel, #2 is a really nice capture of the iridescence in the neck

Thank you PixelRabbit for the kind words.

 

[Joel_W]

I would really like to move up to a CMOS sensor, have 100 ISO rather then a base of 200 ISO, & 6.1 mega pixels isn't even average these days. Other then those issues, I'm thrilled with the performance of the D70S

Yea i know how you feel but im just using a nikon coolpix p500 i wanna get a lense adptor for it but you now how thing are these days always busy

What type of lens adapter are you looking for? The P500 doesn't have any threads in the front of the lens. How would you attach it?

 

[sam7771]

It screws on and theres like a claping system