Let’s Chase Some Pigeons!
Kids get different things out of a vacation than we adults do. While Nelya and I marveled at the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sofia in Istanbul, Eitan and Nathan marveled at a square with thousands of pigeons they could chase. To them, this was heaven and they spent ample time there chasing said pigeons. Of course, I couldn’t resist getting my camera out to get some shots.
I am certainly no expert in pigeon shots - these being my first attempts - but the following is what I did learn.
First, it is obvious here that a fast shutter speed is necessary. I used 1/3200 in order to get the flying pigeons in midair. I probably could have gotten away with 1/250 to 1/500 for the kids running around, but pigeons move quite a bit faster and my first attempts had the kids in focus surrounded by blurry pigeons - which didn’t look so good. By using a much faster shutter speed, the shots looked a bit better.
The other thing I did was use my 580EX as a fill flash. Due to the high shutter speed, I did not diffuse it at all but aimed it straight at the subject - one of the very few times I ever did this. Despite the high shutter speed, the flash definitely helped - particularly in lightening the pigeons a bit. In my first shots the pigeons were quite dark. It also helped with the faces on Eitan and Nathan - removing some of the shadows.
What I found rather humorous was how Eitan and Nathan made their own terms for the pigeons. A large group of pigeons ready for scaring was called a “pile” and they constantly ran around searching for piles. They still ask if there is a place in Seattle where we can chase pigeons, but I suspect due to health issues and such those places are very rare here.
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Tags: chase, istanbul, Kids, photography, pigeon, turkey