there are not many occasions where i intentionally take a silhouette photo of a bird but during sunrise and sunset sometimes opportunities do present themselves because the background lighting is so good that the poor lighting on the bird itself will just have to do. these photos were taken here in norway one cold morning late last january. the sun rises vey late here in january so it doesn't require getting up early.
here the photo was taken before the sun rose above the island off the shore. there were low clouds in the distance but above them the sky was totally clear. taking a pre-sunrise photo of a black crow is guaranteed to be a silhouette. here the little light there is came from the side .
a few minutes later the sun started to gradually peer above the island and clouds but still no light directly on the crow. the bird puffs up it's feathers to keep warm. that is what is giving the odd shape of the breast and stomach. the tree is not tall but it is on the slope of a hill so the crow had taken a perfect position to witness the event.
it was so cold the sea had frozen. there are a couple of boats that routinely break the ice, the path of one is clearly visible. the rising sun always gives me an exhilarating feeling even though the pale winter light doesn't radiate any warmth. i imagine the crow felt much the same.
as the sun became visible the crow moved to a chimney on a nearby house. here the photo was taken more directly toward the sun but the sun was too low to be in the picture.
meanwhile a magpie has taken the place of the crow on the treetop of the previous photos. rays from the the pale low sun were now barely visible on the breast of the magpie. i had moved to higher ground above the treetop giving the appearance that the low clouds were higher than they really were.
similar lighting conditions are often seen at sunset.
here in keoladeo national park in rajasthan a peacock had perched atop of a low tree as we were leaving the park just at sunset. the park is truly a great place to observe birds so we were there early the next morning but that is a story for another day.