The Birds

Marty CohenB+W, Birds, Carmel Valley Ranch10 Comments

The Birds

The Birds sit in the trees outside our house.

(To see the most detail in this image, click on it to enlarge it!)

If you ever saw the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds, you have to remember how incredibly scary it was to have hundreds of birds flying around the people in that movie. Well, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that’s what were having outside our house every afternoon about 3 pm, but it’s pretty close to that. Fortunately, unlike in the movie, they’re not attacking the humans (so far). They fly outside from rooftop to trees to rooftop, and swoop down in front of our house. It is kind of creepy, especially if we’re out walking the dog and if we think about that movie.

I got my camera out and put the “Big Lens” (200-500 mm) on and stood in our doorway looking out over the trees above our neighbors’ homes. I experimented with a number of Photoshop techniques after I got the images into my computer. But what I liked best was this stark contrast black and white look. Click on the image to enlarge it on your computer’s screen.

10 Comments on “The Birds”

  1. Love the black and white – what a perfect subject for it. Next time you are in the Verde Vally you will have to hang out where the ravens congregate. Would be a good image as well. Plus, they are so social and tend to talk at you when you are outside, especially when you talk back! Have you tried talking to these guys?

  2. Hey Marty, you sure you/re not living in Bodego Bay? I thought I caught a shadow of Tippi….haha, great pic.

    1. Thanks Chris…
      I need to be more prerpared to go out and shoot when the big swarm shows up. It really has a big “creepy factor” when they’re all out there in a big group. Hope all is well for you.

  3. It’s a great image, Marty. It would make a wonderfully graphic T shirt, with or without an eco message. I can see you wearing it, already.

  4. Creepy indeed – the black and white image emphasizes it! Quite fitting with the Hitchcock movie out in theaters We get grackles gathering in trees here in Austin – they are very noisy and make a mess.

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