Category

Birdlife

Location

RSPB Old Moor Dearne Valley, Yorkshire, UK

Gear

Canon 5D Mkiv + Canon 24-105mm F4 lens

Description

A small group of starlings lead the way as the entire flock surges overhead. In a new take on long exposure photography, I capture short bursts of frames and use my own simple algorithm to flatten them into a single image in post processing. I find that insights emerge from the resulting images that traditional long exposure techniques are not sharp enough to capture. I studied the mathematics of natural phenomena such as murmurations and avalanches during my doctorate and have found the process of turning this flock behaviour into art quite fascinating. This image was taken at RSPB Old Moor in Yorkshire, UK. I visited the reserve several times during the winter of 2018/19 to refine this technique and capture the fluid motion of the starlings. Visitors are lucky enough to be able to stand directly underneath the starlings' flight path and the noise of so many birds moving as one is phenomenal.

Photographer

Kathryn Cooper

Social Media

Twitter: @KathCooper01

Website: https://kathryncooperwildlife.com/

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