My earlier two shots in this series have proved quite popular, particularly the ‘Killer Whale’, so I thought I’d post another. When I took them, I was expecting just abstracts and I was surprised to find that a number of wonderful shapes emerged, some seeming to be like animals or humans. This one is more abstract, although it could be a turtle looking up into the shaft of red sunset light. The background to these shots is as follows:

Every evening in the late autumn, clouds of starlings arrive over Arezzo and other cities in Italy to roost for the night. There are huge numbers of them and as they arrive, they put on the most incredible show. Gathering in ever changing groups, they swoop and swirl through the sky, forming any number of shapes and patterns that are constantly changing.

It all lasts about ten minutes at dusk, after which they are in the trees, chattering away. Each pattern lasts a fraction of a second.

If you would like to see some more in the series, click on this link: Starling Clouds

Canon 1DMKII with Canon 28-70mmL lens at 28mm; ISO200 f2.8 1/125. Shot as taken, no cropping.

Best viewed large!

Number of views 10/3/10 : 502