"Flight."
I have been trying for ages to get a shot of the pigeons in flight, today, i was rewarded. I just happened to be there when the fanciers turned up and proceeded to let them go. As i have said before, the fanciers in Spain colour the wings and tails with some sort of dye. Oliva, Spain. Kodak Easyshare C653. 15/1/09.
"Flight." belongs to the following groups:
That One Great Shot and The Birds Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints and Framed Prints

coffeetea
Excellent capture! and fantastic treatment!! gorgeous creativity :) John. susan
John Smith replied
Many thanks, when they swoop together it,s an amazing sight with all the colours showing
hilarydougill
absolutely glorious capture and wonderful sight, so pretty. They must use a vegetable dye. Wonderful imagery. hugsxxx
John Smith replied
Thank you Hilary, it must be a vegetable dye, anything else would clog the feathers, whatever, they look magnificent when in flight.
funkybunch
wow, great shot
John Smith replied
Thanks for your comment.
Karen Millard
Crazy pigeons! I thought you’d been playing with photoshop when I saw this. Amazing shot.
John Smith replied
Many thanks Karen, this photo is straight from the camera, i just have a point and shoot, nothing too complicated for me.
Squealia
Super image John, seeing them static in flight like this is wonderful as you can really see all their decorations…......... The pigeons aren’t nearly as artistic here….. Most appear to have only a few different colours…....... But then if I looked closer maybe they are as colourful! Glad you didn’t get pooped on!
John Smith replied
Thanks Celia, i put this one down to perseverance, i,d been out every day looking for them.
FelicityB
I LOVE THIS ONE! There’s a challenge called “I have Wings I can Fly” and you really have to put this one in, it’s unique!!
John Smith replied
I,m glad you like this Felicity, it would not have come across so well if they had not been painted. Thanks.
dolmadakia
Amazing photograph, great that you’ve captured all the colours on their wings – beautiful, well done.
John Smith replied
Many thanks Lauren, untill we came to live in Spain, i,d never before seen painted pigeons.
Adam Gormley
This is awesome, truely awesome! Once in a lifetime shot here I think mate, well done!
John Smith replied
Thanks, Yes, i think it is once in a lifetime shot, i could never repeat it.
Rick Todaro
Wonderful Work !! So creative and beautiful !!!
John Smith replied
Many thanks Rick.
Alex Marks
wow!!!
John Smith replied
Many thanks
mikoto
ditto: wow!
John Smith replied
Thank you.
Lori Peters
John, this is so beautiful!!!!!!!!
John Smith replied
Thanks Lori, with out the pigeons, i was running out of things to photograph.
janeymac
What an awesome capture John !!!!
John Smith replied
Thank you as always Janey.
Annnie
nice shot!
John Smith replied
Thank you Annie.
~ Butterfly ~
Amazing , love this !:0)
John Smith replied
Thanks
brianjarvis
NEAT
John Smith replied
Thanks Brian.
Simone Riley
excellent image – the colours are great
John Smith replied
Thanks Simone, close up the colours look somewhat different.
Donna Chapman
excellent!
John Smith replied
Many thanks Donna.
Bonnie T. Barry
CONGRATULATIONS, John, on the Art Feature! This is so beautiful! At first I thought you had used photoshop to get the colored wings but I was even more amazed to learn that the pigeons actually looked that way in flight because of the technique applied by their owners. What a wonderful image and an interesting documentary of the area. You should be very proud with this; your perseverance paid off!
John Smith replied
Thank you Bonnie for a really lovely comment, i must admit i have never had so many comments before on one picture. Yes, i am proud of it as i only snapped them as they flew over and it can never be replicated.
Elisabete Nasc...
WOW how amazing!!!!!!!!!!
John Smith replied
Thank you Elisabete, it was pretty amazing for me when i saw it on the computer.
mc27
good idee … nice artwork!!
Glenn-Patrick ...
Beautiful.
Priscilla Rodr...
Wow!! beautiful, great shot
Richard VanWart
How wonderful! Like animated kites! Terrific capture, mate—Cheers!
mimi yoon
wow~ i want to live where you live… do stars twinkle in different colors too… sort of like christmas lights???
beautiful image and delicious colors…
: )
Jason Chetwynd...
really great capture John. Nice one
Ellen
Very beautiful!
Louise Fahy
This is fantastic!
dinghysailor1
wow! how incredible that these colours are for real!! amazing captyure!! right time right place my friend – well done!
capecodart
outstanding vision and work!
TanyaDuffy
This is gorgeous!!!! Magical! xx
jerry alcantara
wonderful shot..love it! but im so sorry for the birds
Julie Thomas
amazing work… a really fantastic capture!!! It must have been quite a sight to see – your perseverence definitely paid off!
Jacq Wilson
This is just beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous!
Jan Piller
Oh how pretty is this!! Great image!
Crystal Williams
Wow! That’s so neat!
Elysia Ranking
They all look so beautiful, lovely capture
jsmusic
I love the colors!
LynnH64
UNIQUE…....Beautiful…...colorful…....fabulous!!!
MuscularTeeth
very stunning.
chazz
Great Capture!!! Love the colors!!!
Courtney Taylor
wow. and they were just as is, no photoshop. awesome shot.
i love the lighting, it really brings out the colour
Marilyn Baldey
This is just the best, amazing.
ArcadiaTempest
great shot….were the birds coloured by you or they were actually coloured??
Lorna Gerard
Well worth the wait. Absolutely wonderful.
sandhill
I am awed by this moment. I might also have named it :
FREE AS A BIRD – they appear to be relishing flight so. Wonderful!
Mundy Hackett
Very cool image, nice work
lorilee
Spectacular!!!!!
George Woodcock
incredible!
Marita McVeigh
so colorful!
justlinda
I thought you had been playing in photoshop too!, this looks wonderful.
My favourite is the orange and white one!.
Laurie Search
Sooo cool and beautiful!
Aurora Pintore
FANTASTIC !!!!!
RavenSoul
How AWESOME!
FelicityB
Sally Green
Absolutely STUNNING!! it is one of the most beautiful images i have ever seen!! x
Outdoors2
Fantastic work!
ps. do they poop rainbow too?....;-P
melbourneguy75
Simply gorgeous, a beautiful capture :)
Loxley
That’s beautiful – the stuff of make=believe. Nice one
Ela - Sita Car...
Beautiful! Love it.
mec554
well you nailed this picture, probably the most captivating picture i’ve seen in a long time
Carol Berliner
Stunning image beeeeeautiful work!
Karin Taylor
this is great!!!!!!
Jeremy Ham
cool
Grandia
Great shot! =)
justjulie
fantastic shot…. dance of the fantails
Catherine Hadler
I wish all pigeons were so interesting
elizabeth over...
magical
Mary Ann Reilly
this is pure magic. Lovely.
luanda
I was dumbstruck!
fotonio
Just perfect!
natalia martin...
Fabulous!
John Smith replied
Gracias para observacion.
Andy Mercer
Great image
natalia martin...
de nada! muy original, ha quedado preciosa
Robin Webster
This is stunning! More than worthy of your feature! Congratulations! I can’t imagine how much work this image took to get this fantastic end result!
John Smith replied
Thank you , it is straight from the camera, i was standing next to the guys when they released the pigeons, i had my camera pointing up and just snapped. my camera is only a Kodak poit and shoot, i guess in reality, just a lucky shot.
terryt
Simply Superb catch!!
Carmen Cilliers
Oh now this is magic! Wonderful shot!!!!
sailorsedge
Great catch John, were you using a bird filter? Really, first thought was post processing. Very Nice!
John Smith replied
No, it was just a point and shoot camera, no filter at all. Many thanks.
Ian James
Great capture well done.
Samantha Goode
Superb capture well done .
lollybug
I just love this! So whimsical. Fantastic!
blamo
what a fantastic idea …........... prolly vegtable dye amazing capture …................bravo
Ciska
Oh Wow what a wonderful capture, they are so magical.!!!!
Ciska
Oh and congratz on the homepage feature, so very well deserved!!!!
John Smith replied
Thanks but what did you mean about the home page feature, i could not find anything.
squirrell
What a great shot, at first I thought you had coloured it yourself. Really wonderful.
Tracey McKenzie
wow that is incredible ! Hope you didnt get pooped on :p
Christophe Testi
Amazing shot!
handprintz
Just beautiful !
khadhy
seems like wonderland. extraordianry idea.
Aaron Lawrence
great photo, love the colours of the pigeons.
Elizabeth Hub...
oh this is beautiful :)
Jennifer Woodward
It must have been fun photographing these beautifully coloured birds, wonderful shot! :-)
Elucidate
Stunning shot. Nice composition, great treatment. The movement capture is amazing. I’m thankful for the Spanish tail-dyers. The colours are fantastic.
John Smith replied
Many thanks, yes, i,m also thankful to the Spanish fanciers which helped to make this photo really special.
Soren Frederiksen
beautiful stuff
Barbara Glatzeder
Incredible! you were lucky with the weather, too! Love it. .-)
Explosive
great shot and what a pretty sight!
misskitteh
my gosh this is beautiful; it really made me smile.
chris Whitney
The birds are beautiful, I like the many shapes depicted in your composition.
blackjack
Wow. I totally thought “how did all those birds get photoshoppedso well!” Ha ha. So glad you wrote about how it was done. And a gorgeous photo on top of it all!
Jennifer Prome...
very creative work!!! something out of ordinary for sure….hehehehe….congratulation.
frizz
wow, this pic is amazing!!
Ciska
It was on homepage, & now it’s featured in homepage art!!!
bubbleblue
Amazing shot, so beautiful.
Al Neaimi
wow
Dene Wessling
wow great shot keep it up looking forward at seeing your work
PeriRainPhotog
Wonderful shot !
t0ray
thats cruel, that die soaks into there pores and poisons them
John Smith replied
I have never thought of it in that way, wether it poisons them, i cannot say because i don,t know. I have never heard of one dying of poison but my Spanish friend up the road keeps them so i will ask him. Regards.
geek05
its cool..
Michelle Barlo...
BRAVO BRAVO
fishandpigs
Superb capture!
Love it!
Hannah McHugh
phenomenal capture!
the colors are fantastic!
PurePhotography
So they are real colors? Wow. interesting!
MKAOleson
Absolutely breathtaking…
Raindrops
Oh wow!!
John Hooton
A great shot with an interesting story.
DinahRose
Ah! How fun!
Lisa Roberts
This is a brilliant picture – I thought you’d coloured them in PS at first!
Lisa x
JBendeth
WOW…..that is awesome. I have never seen anything like that…..WOW A FAV. OF MINE. JB
helmutk
Great capture !
Waleska Luker
Stunning! Fantastic
Hans Goepel
Absolutely glorious capture and wonderful sight.

I have never seen anything like this!
docophoto
Great, great image.
Cassie Rhead
What an extrodinary capture and great colours
Well done!
John Smith
Many thanks for your comment Refia.
cmsdesign
This shot is so STUNNING! Isn’t that amazing that they colour them?! What a lot of work. Great capture!
John Smith replied
Thanks Clare, this photo has generated so much interest it,s almost unbelievable.
keleka656
That is the most incredible shot Ive ever seen….......of pigeons. Absolutey beautiful capture!! Lucky you!!
John Smith replied
Many thanks, yes, when i saw it on the computer for the first i thought i was extremely lucky.
Jessica King
:o This is incredible! What a wonderful shot, but an even more incredible experience!!! :)
John Smith replied
Thank you Jessica, not being a photographer, i can consider this as my shot in a million, it was pure luck but so many people like it.
CinB
this is a very cool shot, i would love to see these birds and pinch one!!
great image
John Smith replied
Thanks, this photo has really done it for me.
linsads
really beautiful—what a sight it must be and so well captured :o))
Allise Fountain
Wow, that is really cool, I didn’t think it was a real shot at first.
John Smith replied
Thank you Allise, All i can say is that it will be a long time before i get another shot like this one,
Megan Dacy
This is absolutely stunning. Breathtaking.
KazM
Thank you for showing us this lovely sight
that many of us are unlikely see for ourselves.
Bravo
John Smith replied
Many thanks for your lovely comment, you see them flying around every afternoon when they let them out but capturing them with a camera is a different thing altogether.
RiSH :
Great shot … looks like some birds from Fantasy kingdom. keep it up.
John Smith replied
Thank you, you are the first comment i have had from India.
Lorna Gerard
Fantastic shot, almost surreal with the painted colours on them, going to my favourites.
Barry Norton
Fabulous capture John, and congratulations on the feature and it reception by everyone
John Smith replied
Thank you Barry.
John Absher
Cool Shot John … Congrats on the “Feature Status”!!
PamelaJoPhoto
WOW!!! That is so beautiful!!! Im curious how many shots it took to get this one? Just amazing! Brilliant colors and the sky and clouds are perfectly exposed…..great work!
John Smith replied
Thanks Pamela, the fanciers let their pigeons go and as they did i took the shot, i had my camera pointed skywards. It was a one in a million shot of which i am very pleased.
ltruskett
I had never heard of this happening…....on first look, I thought you had meticulously coloured them…....lol. Wonderful capture….......
John Smith replied
No , neither had i, to me a pigeon is a pigeon and when we first came to live here i was surprised. Thank you,
Susanne Correa
WOW great shot ! I thought you have played around in photoshop…well done
bfokke
Beautiful shot,
being at the right place at the right time I guess,
Thanks for sharing this
Vonnie Murfin
Great action shot!
mikequigley
Beautiful work mq
Pipple
Wonderful shot.
mithrandir9x
What a fun shot.
JimFilmer
stunning image John
PiktoLove
So funny !... so beautifull.
I love this idea of adding just a little thing… it’s surreal.
Squealia
JOHN did you know that your image is the popular image in the past 30 days…. SEE HERE
Squealia
Oppps should say MOST POPULAR IMAGE!!!
John Smith replied
Thanks Celia,and the comments are still coming in albeit a trifle slow now. It has had, to date, 70,400 views. Owing to the weather, i,ve been unable to get out much for taking pictures. Many thanks.
juliweeeeee
wow this is a great image!... i love the colours!!!!!:)
Olga Sotiriadou
What a brilliant idea!
Larissa White...
Beautiful capture!
wutz4tea
What a wonderful capture, John Smith! I almost didn’t comment because you’ve got so many! But then i just had to! Love your work!
John Smith replied
Thank you for a really lovely comment.
BYRON
The colours are for real???
Holy poo Batman! This is very awesome!
terryt
Just had to come back and take another look at this Beauty!
Cloudia Newland
Beautifully amazing colours add something so special here!
Shannon Byous ...
AWESOME!!!! So original and gorgeous!
Jonathan Carre
This is fantastic.
Hugoman
this very neat
hugo
Lance Leopold
Truly spectacular,love it!!!!
sharon wingard
what a great shot very colourful
sneha
gr8 shot!!
it really feels nice to see birdz flying high!!
Jacinta0001
AWESOME…love it!!
John Smith replied
Thanks for the comment, love your name, our house before was in “Calle San Jacinta.”
Jacinta0001
thanku.. aww really that’s interesting
Lorena Maria
BIG wowwww!!!!
John Smith
Muchos gracias Lorena.
serpentwhisper
Beautiful image. I happened across this piece today, just a couple days after I’d taken this photograph: http://www.redbubble.com/people/serpentwhisper/art/2704215-5-flight ... Your image reminds me of these colorful paper cranes (which is why I decided to upload this photo – to show you!). :)
John Smith replied
Thanks for the comment, yes, i can see similarities in your picture of ” La Tienda.” especially with the colours.
Mariette/Flowi...
stunning work, i love the colour, something realy special.
John Smith replied
Thank you for your lovely comment.
heidiypi1
wonderful picy congratulations.
andrew j wrigley
beautiful image – love the colour and arrangement of the image!!
John Smith replied
Thank you Andrew, it amazes me that i,m still getting comments on it.
Emsky
Wow! Really eyecatching, love it :)
pairshion
oh my goodness . . . . the colors make me so speechless
natapee
i thought this was photoshopped. how incredible!
greeneyedlady
what perfect timing!!
bimma
oustanding!
JaredSouth
GROOVY!
swoofs
Wow!!!!!! double thumbs up :D
bronnnie
I thought this was photoshopped, how amazing the colour of the birds. Great photo.
Casey Herman
I’m with bronnnie, I ALSO thought it was photoshopped! Also, great photo and fave!
Lindsay Oram
hi there. thought i would let you know that this photo has been stolen and posted on deviant art by someone claiming it is theirs. Heres the link
John Smith replied
Thank you Lindsay, i woke up this morning to all of this about my picture, i have even signed up to Deviant just to tell this guy what i thought of him. Most of his work is stolen, all i could do was to report him to whosoever. Thanks again, John.
Lindsay Oram
Actually all of his work is stolen. all from redbubble. He has had 16 pages of comments telling him off but he marks them spam. I have reported him to deviant art as has many others. Lets hope he gets whats coming to him
John Smith replied
Thanks again Lindsay, i have sent Deviant two Emails this morning about this guy, it makes you wonder who else is doing it but not so blatantly. John.
Sutthida Hughes
....like a gang of giant butterflies
John Smith replied
Thank you Sutthida, thats a lovely name by the way, This picture has generated so much interest since i took it.
Antonia Diewold
Congrats on the Feature!
Jay Morgan
Congratulations on your feature extraordinary colors beautiful photograph !!
John Smith replied
Thanks for the comment Jay, So many people seem to like this photo, It was a shot in a million.
AmandaH
Amazing shot…
John Smith replied
Thank you Amanda.
Colleen Milburn
Wow. This is just so damned gorgeous!!! Well done on a great capture John!
John Smith replied
Thank you kindly Colleen for your comment.
Shoaib .
this is absolultely amazinggggg i cant believe they dye their birds, we should do that in the cities it would make them much more bearable !
John Smith replied
Many thanks for your comment,yes they really look lovely when they all fly about in their colours, it makes you want to look at them.
tennisbabe43
amazing.
John Smith replied
Thank you for your comment, it,s nice to know people are still looking at this picture.
Samantha Lewan... 1 day ago
Wow, this image is just incredible! What an amazing find :)
John Smith replied 1 day ago
Many thanks Samantha, it is my photo in a million, never to be repeated.