I have been continuing to experiment with abstract wildlife shots.
No, one doesn’t have to put away the camera after sunset if one is not carrying a tripod. The multi-hued dusk sky, dark shadows, and twilight colours reflected on water make for some interesting photo opportunities.
Getting such shots is a matter of:
- Planning (e.g. right season, weather, direction of light, appropriate positioning)
- Some luck (e.g. quality of sunset, sky colours on a particular day)
- Previous reconnaissance to understand subject behaviour (e.g. when the birds start flying, vector of flight)
- Practice – one needs to pan appropriately to get the effect one wants
All shots were taken handheld, using very slow shutter speeds.

Spirit heron. Dark undergrowth in the background, and sky colours reflected on water (foreground).

Herons flying over the dark waters of Cauvery river. Monochrome.

Ibises, dusk. Effect created by ICM.

Starlings. Monochrome.

Ibises

Golden avenue. Dark areas were in shadow, bright areas were reflecting the sky. Slow shutter used to accentuate the limited light.

Roosting time

White wings. Monochrome.