Project 8 “The Decisive Moment”. Non-assignment Images (1): “The Fish
Thief” (24 March 2014)
In my search for a set of images
for Project 8: “The Decisive Moment” (Assignment 2) I investigated many
situations, which I hoped would provide me with a suitable story. In March 2014
I paid my first visit for three years to London Zoo. One of the many reasons
for the visit was to photograph the wild herons that nest close to the zoo in Regents
Park and regularly visit the zoo in order to take advantage of the hand-outs of
food for the flamingos, pelicans and penguins. Whether you love or hate herons,
they are undeniably birds with character. I noticed that one particular
individual was loitering in the penguins’ enclosure and that the penguins were
due to be fed an hour or so later.
When I returned I arranged to sit
at the back of the small outdoor auditorium, where I had an unrestricted view
of events as they unfolded. I used my Nikon D7000 camera with 70-300mm Nikon
Lens, using a fast (1/1000s) shutter speed at a fairly high ISO (ISO 800;
necessary to avoid under-exposure). Once the tannoy announcements started and a
keeper appeared with a bucket of dead fish, the heron flew across the enclosure
and landed on top of the screen that separated the penguins’ pool from the
audience (Image 1), where it perched precariously (Image 2). Once the keeper
started to feed the penguins (Image 3) the heron leaned forward, watching the
water attentively (Image 4). At regular intervals it would jump off the screen
and land in the water, where it would splash about and try, with limited
success, to take one of the fish (Image 5). If successful, the heron would fly
to the side of the pool (Image 6), where the fish would be consumed (Image 7).
This process was repeated several times, allowing me to capture the various
stages of the cycle…..except for the one where the heron succeeds in catching a
fish! The sequence of images shown on the next page is therefore not in time
order and Image 5 shows a failed attempt to catch a fish. The penguins were
more successful, but then they are capable underwater swimmers and, in any
case, the fish was intended for them!
Whilst I was photographing the
heron two herring gulls were also trying to catch the fish. Because herring
gulls are the subject of another project (“An Impartial View”) I was keen to
photograph them also, which led to some distractions.
The Decisive Moment
In my mind, the “Decisive Moment”
was always going to be the capture of a fish by the heron in the water.
Unfortunately, when I came to post production I found that I did not have any
satisfactory images of this event. Furthermore, the best shot of the heron
flying to the edge of the pool with a fish was a little blurred (Image 6), so I
decided not to use this event for Project 8. Nevertheless, I edited the images
and used seven in order to put the sequence of events together to create a
picture story; this should provide useful experience for creating a story board
for the Major Project, where the sequence of images should tell a story without
the need for words. Furthermore, I may use the sequence as my entry for the
next Royston Photographic Society “Storyboard” competition, later this year.
The picture story (Images 1 to 7)
is shown below.
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
Image 6
Image 7
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