After months of chasing starlings around Lough Ennel, County Westmeath, Ireland; James Crombie and Colin Hogg captured a unique display when the murmuration of starlings formed the shape of a giant bird.
Crombie’s shot made front cover of the Irish Times, and the video of the murmuration of that shot (filmed by Hogg) can be found embedded below.
In an interview with the Irish Times, Crombie says he made about 50 trips to Lough Ennell in the past few months, and the day he got the shot he had already taken between 400-500 shots before this one:
“I’m usually a sports photographer, so for a while I’ve had a bit of time to think about other things. I had an image in my head,” he explains. “I could see they were making shapes. I kept going back, to get the image I had in my head.” [source]
For anyone interested, prints are available at Inpho Photography.
[The Irish Times vis Kottke]
What an amazing few months it has been chasing the murmurations around Lough Ennell looking for the shot with @hogg82, our patience eventually paid off. Thanks so much to the @IrishTimes for the wonderful usage today pic.twitter.com/5ldPF6J6PS
— James Crombie (@INPHOjames) March 4, 2021