Saturday, March 13, 2010

Washington Heights, St. Nicholas Avenue at 191st Street


Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

Finally we're at the end of this Washington Heights walk begun on February 20, and I'm closing with a pigeon shot.  I'm very pleased with this photo because it is hard to take a good pigeon shot.  Just as it is hard to take a good squirrel shot.  Or duck shot.  There are just some common chunky animals that make your eyes glaze over.  It's not their commonness because we love photos of cats.  Is it their lack of individuality?  But cow photos are always nice.  If anyway has the answer, please share.

So, as I was saying, I'm pleased with this photo because I think it is that rare occurrence, a damn good pigeon shot.  Don't you agree?  If it were a notecard, wouldn't you buy it? 

I went online to see what I could see, and I found a whole industry around pigeon photography but it had to do with racing pigeons and photography for identification.  If you have 300 prize pigeons, I guess you want to know who they are.

But I did find two sites you might be interested in; the first contains 100 shots of city pigeons by 100 photographers participating in "Pigeons In Town."  The contest closed March 11, two days ago.  Oh, cruel fate.  I'm sure I would have won.  It is at Digital Photography Review.

The second is Ingrid Taylar's story of detangling a city pigeon's feet.  If you like to read about poor helpless animals being rescued, as I do, this is for you.

1 comment:

Running with Dental Floss said...

I would definitely buy this if it were a note card! I make it a point to acknowledge, with a quiet "Hi, bird!" every pigeon I stroll - or rush - by. I like those very short New Yorkers. But that's just me.

I wager that a duck on a Manhattan sidewalk would make an equally (and easily) good photograph - as easy as taking a good photo of a cow chewing cud anywhere on Earth.

Will check out Ingrid Taylor's detangling story. I just almost lost a finger to tangled dental floss I for the life of me could not get off until the finger turned a scary-pretty blue. I finally had to awaken my slumbering partner to free me and save my typing ability (although I assume I could type even without the finger).

Love your blog, Mary Sargent!