Shooting Pigeons On Main Street

I was downtown last night shooting a play at the Austin Theater on Main Street. Like all downtown’s we have our share of pigeons. Usually I pay them no attention, but last night a flock flew overhead as I walked to my car. They wheeled and turned, flying out of sight, then came into view from a different direction.

I immediately brought my camera up and started shooting. The first frames had a bit of blur, the shutter speed was down around 1/60 second from shooting inside. I reset my ISO and shutter speed and shot as they flew around.


I love the texture in these images, the shadows and tiny points of detail. Cool the way the light falls on some birds while others are silhouettes, a beak and eye show up on one bird, the next in shadow.

I know folks were wondering why that fool was taking pictures of a bunch of pigeons. Who cares? I got some neat images.