Home - A place to live

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi every one,

The last couple of days I have been very busy with buying a house together (our first one) with my girlfriend. I am happy to say that we had success and now are the happy owners of a nice little place in Leiden.

Going through all that made me think about the birds that stole my hart (the Black tailed Godwit) and how devestating it must be for them when their home is being destroyed year after year by agricultural mechanical practises........................

Anyway I made an attempt this year to photograph a parent on the nest showing their home from their perspective. By using a fishangle lens I tried to emphasize the 'being in their home perspective' and I tried to find a nest with all the landscape elements (windmail, farm, Rumex the flower on the right and of course grass), that make up their habitat in the Netherlands, close by.

This is one I am very happy with. I put a camera close to the nest site on a pole and triggered the shutter from the car with a remote when I saw it coming back to the nest. After a couple of shots it got scared off and didn't want to come back to the nest after about 20 minutes I dismantled the setup as I didn't want the nest to get abandoned. The parents returned afterwards and have had a succesful year raising 2 chicks.

I know a lot of shadows, which I already lightened up a bit, but I don't dare to go any further because then it looks fake to my eye. This was taken 1 hour before sunset and as I explained I didn't get too much chances on a better shot. Lower would have obstructed the view of the Godwit by the grass (I tried while setting up the camera) and higher would have gotten rid of any eye contact.

I hope this shot emphasizes a bird in its home. Too me this is the best I could do on that location at that time but would be very interested in hearing what you think.

Thanks,

Canon EOS 50D 1/320 f16 manual
ISO 500
Tokina 10-17 F3.5-4.5 DX
Focal Length 10mm

Cloned out the long shadow of the camera and pole and cropped a bit for web presentation

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Congratulations on your house purchase!

I like the idea and execution of this image as it shows how little room the birds have and I'm glad to hear that they successfully raised their chicks. :) I am undecided if I would remove the tall plant on the right.

[David Roach]

Love your idea/vision and execution on this one! The fisheye with environment and nest at the hub really tells the story. Congrats! I'd keep the tall plant.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for sharing this story with the BPN community! I think I'd keep the tall plant.

[Tell Dickinson]

This is an interesting shot but personally I think the bird was disturbed past the point that I would have been happy with.

Tell

[Stu Bowie]

Firstly, congrats on your new purchase, and secondly, what a cool perspective. Very well thoughtout, and great to see something totally different. Well done. ( Sorry, I think you must cut the tall plant.)

[Erich Stevens]

The image works for me, and a brilliant idea to use the fisheye. Interesting concept, thanks for sharing.

[Chris Zink]

This is an important story to be told. Thanks for sharing. I really liked the feeling of being down there in the grass with the bird.

Chris Zink

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Congratulations on your house man! What a great achievement. It's only going to get better from now on.

I love your perspective very much. Such an unconventional image compared to most that get posted. Your dedication to capture the perfect image is exemplary. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Ramon M. Casares]

I wouldn't change a thing, I was going to suggest fill flash, but after reading that the bird got scared only with the shutter noise, this wouldn't have been a good choice I guess. Love it. Congratulaitons to you for you new home and for such nice image.

[Daniel Cadieux]

This is one I am very happy with. I put a camera close to the nest site on a pole and triggered the shutter from the car with a remote when I saw it coming back to the nest. After a couple of shots it got scared off and didn't want to come back to the nest after about 20 minutes I dismantled the setup as I didn't want the nest to get abandoned. The parents returned afterwards and have had a succesful year raising 2 chicks.

Tell, I appreciate your concerns but from what I can read from the above quote Krijn was being very careful and even dismantled his setup when he recognized the signs that the bird started not liking this. Also, the fact two chicks were succesfully raised shows that Krijn did no harm and makes this an even more poignant image. Krijn, congrats on your image, and on showing the example of stopping when you recognized the signs. Nothing wrong was done here IMO and you have an awesome image to show for it.

P.S. I think the tall grass should stay :-)

[Krijn Trimbos]

Tell, I appreciate your concerns but from what I can read from the above quote Krijn was being very careful and even dismantled his setup when he recognized the signs that the bird started not liking this. Also, the fact two chicks were succesfully raised shows that Krijn did no harm and makes this an even more poignant image. Krijn, congrats on your image, and on showing the example of stopping when you recognized the signs. Nothing wrong was done here IMO and you have an awesome image to show for it.

P.S. I think the tall grass should stay :-)

Dear people,

Thanks a bunch for all your comments and concerns regarding these beautiful birds and the shot.

I indeed was very careful photographing these birds. Like I said these birds have stolen my hart and I would never cross the line just t o get a shot that I wanted. Also I have been studying them extensively for 2 years now with a team of very experienced researchers and have gotten a pretty good idea of what should be considered 'crossing the line' when keeping breeding success in mind. For instance we always use video camera's to document nesting behavior and see if any colourringed individuals are incubating the eggs of a certain found nest. Never has a bird not returned to the nestsite after a camera was installed next to it; most of the return within 20 minutes after camera placement.

I used the same method to photograph this bird but as I pointed out in my initial description this bird got scared off due to the releasing shutter (not the setup it returned 5 minutes after placement of the setup) after which I dismantled the camera 20 minutes after (they are known to leave the nest without incubation for much longer periods just to go feeding). Also as I always do with birds we catch (for individual colourringing) during the research I check if they are reluctant to return to the nest. This one returned a minute after I shut the cardoor behind me and has had a very succesful clutch this year! :) Hope this clear up any uncertainties regarding the birds and its chicks safety.

Cheers,

Krijn