Wild Bird Trust photographers of the week

Great news as Steve Boyes of Wild Bird Trust has chosen 2 of my picture to be featured on this week’s Top Wild Bird Photographs of the week on National Geographic‘s News Watch.

Both of the pictures have an element which I really like to have in my pictures and that is water. Why you might ask. Well it most often bring a nice element to the pictures with reflections, water drops and most often a smooth background. They are also both taken in Gothenburg during January with almost one year apart.

The oldest is the picture of the Mute Swans. I took at the start of 2012 at Hökällan here in Gothenburg. It were a glorious morning with golden light that I haven´t been spoiled with for a long time. I went to Hökällan that morning just to see what could be found there. The winter was mild at the moment so the water was free of ice and I discovered the Mute Swan pair doing this dance as the sun was getting over the treetops.

I am more than pleased with this picture. It has a feeling of intimacy and show the bond between these wild birds in a lovely way. The light is more or less perfect and I like the colors in the picture going from dark to light. The reflections both in the water but also the light reflections on the birds add elements that appeal to me. A complex and warm picture that makes me glad.

Next picture is of a juvenile European Herring Gull and it has been taken along Göta Älv in January this year. I was out practicing for the coming trip to Hungary when I saw this juvenile bird taking a bath. It was a little windy this day and luckily for me the wind was blowing in the right direction which meant that the birds often faced me when they flapped their wings to get rid of the water.

I tried to work with slow shutter speed during most of the shots this day. You can see that the wings in the picture is a little dreamlike while the bird still is sharp. This is a good picture, even if it isn´t as good as the Mute Swans. I like the format of the picture and how the wings almost fill the full frame like an angel.

It is a technically good picture, no doubt about it, but it lacks something for me. It think my issue with the picture mostly relates to the lack of interesting light.

I hope you enjoy both of the pictures.