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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