Photographing Ravens

darkosaric · Mar 5, 2015

Hi,

Recent thread about Hektor lens and duck/goose jokes reminded me that I wanted to ask one question for some time: and this is how and where can one find ravens in the city?
All birds like pigeons, ducks, chickens and so on are not afraid of people and I can get really close to them. But ravens no. They are always too far, flying away quick, and I don't see them often.
I find the ravens very photogenic, so any tips how to proceed?

From equipment I have nikkor 200mm f4 and Leitz 135mm Hektor, so I can not be very far away.

Thanks.

Rick A · Mar 5, 2015

Crow decoys, and a crow call, or an owl call. Secret yourself in a tent or blind of some kind, so you cannot be seen from the sky.

RobC · Mar 5, 2015

darkosaric said:
I wanted to ask one question for some time: and this is how and where can one find ravens in the city?

At the Tower of London (London England that is). They clip their wings so they can't fly away.

Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. It was Charles II, according to the stories, who first insisted that the ravens of the Tower should be protected.

Probably not much use to you but I thought I'd mention it anyway

Where I live they are quite common and you can usually hear their distinctive call before you see them but in a city there's probably too much noise for that.

Mike Crawford · Mar 5, 2015

If you're into Ravens, expect you will know The Solitude of Ravens by Masahisa Fukase. If not, wonderful series.
http://invisiblephotographer.asia/2013/11/19/lovelossphotography-masahisafukase/

Good piece on the work and the history behind it in the Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/may/24/masahisa-fukase-ravens-photobook

Sadly the book is out of print, highly collectable so rather too pricey to buy, even the reprints. As it is in the National Art Library in the V&A Museum in London, I usually have a good leaf through when I visit the library. By coincidence, and for Londoners, part of the work is currently on display also at the V&A in an excellent free exhibition in their upstairs Photograph Gallery.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/galleries/level-3/room-100-photographs-gallery/

Mike Crawford · Mar 5, 2015

PS.
As I remember, the ravens in Northern Germany are quite striking in their grey and black colouring. They're all jet black in the UK.

nbagno · Mar 5, 2015

Odlin's cove

Look up Odlin's cove by Beth Moon. Won't help you locate them in the city, but some very nice raven images.

darkosaric · Mar 6, 2015

Mike Crawford said:
If you're into Ravens, expect you will know The Solitude of Ravens by Masahisa Fukase. If not, wonderful series.

Yes, I know this wonderful book. It is very expensive unfortunately. I have a book "Japanese photobooks in 1960's and 1970's" and there are also some pages from The Solitude of Ravens.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Mar 6, 2015

Best possible way is to feed a raven in your home , they live 70 may be 90 some say 120 years. There is a youtube video where a raven feeds the dog and cat of the home. Turkish kings have feeded few ravens in their court. My sisters have pictures of Ravens in New Mexico and Arizona. She loves them. Kremlin and Topkapi Place is famous about their raven fleets. In years , Soviets feeded hawks againts ravens and they reported in national geographic , no hawks could not hunt even a single raven in years. They are extremelly intelligent and when they see the hawk , they left the area altogether Ottoman Palace have the same story , they planted poison , no raven eat it , they put loudspeakers , no success , palace plants new plants everyday and ravens snap them at the evening. They take stones to their mouths and throw at the highhest point on to the lead rain plates and break them And if you touch their children , they attack you on the streets everyday for years. They never forgot you and follow and identify at the crowds.

bobwysiwyg · Mar 6, 2015

Mustafa Umut Sarac;1953715330 said:
Seriously? Where did you find this information?

darkosaric · Mar 6, 2015

bobwysiwyg said:
Seriously? Where did you find this information?

http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Corvus_corax

Sirius Glass · Mar 6, 2015

RobC said:
At the Tower of London (London England that is). They clip their wings so they can't fly away.

Legend says that the kingdom and the Tower will fall if the six resident ravens ever leave the fortress. It was Charles II, according to the stories, who first insisted that the ravens of the Tower should be protected.

Probably not much use to you but I thought I'd mention it anyway

Where I live they are quite common and you can usually hear their distinctive call before you see them but in a city there's probably too much noise for that.

Also http://www.baltimoreravens.com/

enjoy

bobwysiwyg · Mar 6, 2015

Thanks, sounds like being imprisoned is the way to go if your a Raven.

Rick A · Mar 6, 2015

I think i'd rather live to 30 free, as opposed to 80 years in prison.

Ken Nadvornick · Mar 6, 2015

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
They are extremelly intelligent...

And if you touch their children , they attack you on the streets everyday for years. They never forgot you and follow and identify at the crowds.

Ken

pdeeh · Mar 6, 2015

Mike Crawford said:
PS.
As I remember, the ravens in Northern Germany are quite striking in their grey and black colouring. They're all jet black in the UK.

Sounds more like Hooded Crows than Ravens.

Ravens are really big birds, with a singularly heavy beak and a wedge-shaped tail in flight.

While there are always leucistic (lacking some pigmentation but not albino) individuals in any population, European Ravens are black & blue-black in general colouration.

I can't speak for Hamburg, but in the UK at least Ravens are starting to make a comeback closer to towns and cities after centuries of persecution, during which time they retreated to highlands, deep forest and rocky coast. But I'd still be surprised to see one in a UK city (other than the clipped individuals at the Tower of course)

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 6, 2015

You probably can train them with some bread or grain. They're smart. Once they know there's food and you're not a threat, they'll come.

cliveh · Mar 6, 2015

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
Best possible way is to feed a raven in your home , they live 70 may be 90 some say 120 years. There is a youtube video where a raven feeds the dog and cat of the home. Turkish kings have feeded few ravens in their court. My sisters have pictures of Ravens in New Mexico and Arizona. She loves them. Kremlin and Topkapi Place is famous about their raven fleets. In years , Soviets feeded hawks againts ravens and they reported in national geographic , no hawks could not hunt even a single raven in years. They are extremelly intelligent and when they see the hawk , they left the area altogether Ottoman Palace have the same story , they planted poison , no raven eat it , they put loudspeakers , no success , palace plants new plants everyday and ravens snap them at the evening. They take stones to their mouths and throw at the highhest point on to the lead rain plates and break them And if you touch their children , they attack you on the streets everyday for years. They never forgot you and follow and identify at the crowds.

Mustafa, have you ever thought about becoming a politician?

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Mar 6, 2015

I would like to be who I am now , I am happy with it , little bit more money or travel to few countries , learning more languages or able to play harpsichord or surbahar , alto sax , drums or double bass would be better also I wasted 30 years , give it to me , I dont want to be a prime minister or anything else.

Mike Crawford · Mar 7, 2015

pdeeh said:
Sounds more like Hooded Crows than Ravens.

Ravens are really big birds, with a singularly heavy beak and a wedge-shaped tail in flight.

While there are always leucistic (lacking some pigmentation but not albino) individuals in any population, European Ravens are black & blue-black in general colouration.

I can't speak for Hamburg, but in the UK at least Ravens are starting to make a comeback closer to towns and cities after centuries of persecution, during which time they retreated to highlands, deep forest and rocky coast. But I'd still be surprised to see one in a UK city (other than the clipped individuals at the Tower of course)

You're absolutely right. It was the Hooded Crow I was thinking about! As a penance, a bad digital snap I took attached of one the Berlin variety. Having lived in London for 30 years, I have of course never been to the Tower of London but thinking of the tourist photos, they are big things. Here are some far better photographs from Branka Jukic. (Though maybe they are crows too!)
Edit - Having looked at again at Branka's site I now notice the caption 'Crow.' Hopefully I will be less stupid for the rest of the weekend!.
http://www.brankajukic.com/blithe-hearted-1.html

pdeeh · Mar 7, 2015

Almost any large mostly black corvid will get called "a crow", and I still can't reliably distinguish a carrion crow from a rook in flight.

Hooded crows are very infrequent in the UK, sufficient to provoke a twitch when one does appear. They are rather handsome

Sirius Glass · Mar 7, 2015

As long as I do not have to eat crow or tolerate Jim Crow.

RobC · Mar 8, 2015

So whats the the difference between a hooded crow and a jackdaw, I thought they were same. We have Jackdaws, or is it hooded crows, by the dozen in my neck of the woods. Crows, Rooks and Ravens too.
Ravens are quite easy to indentify because of the diamond shaped tail, the very deep guttural call and they will be the ones doing acrobatics up high. Also other birds will mob ravens more than they do to crows and rooks I think.
Spotting the difference between a crow and a rook is beyond me.

[edit]

well now I know... what I thought were hooded crows are in fact all jackdaws.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverande...atch/schoolbirds/tellingbirdsapart/crows.aspx

pdeeh · Mar 8, 2015

Different species. Jackdaws have a blue/grey eye, and an ashy mantle through the breeding season, but are black/blueblack overall. They're also significantly smaller.
I've got a nice video of jackdaws mobbing a juvenile raven just outside my house

snapguy · Mar 8, 2015

Raven mad

To quote the Raven "nevermore, and not likely." Ya gotta be smarter than the birds, first of all. I used to try to take photos of circling hawks and they all seemed to know how long my lens was and always stayed just out of range. You have to have the patience of a saint. You probably need a longer lens. And don't underestimate how smart they are. They don't know and 8x10 from a color slide but they know you want something and they don't want you to have it. Whatever you want, it might steal their spirit.

RobC · Mar 9, 2015

When you are flying with the birds they don't mind you being there with them at all. They will come within maybe 15 feet of you quite happily. I used to fly paragliders and have flown with peregrins and buzzards cliff soaring for extended periods of time. They aren't bothered in the slightest about a big inflatable wing with a human dangling from it in the air. But when you are on the ground and try and approach them its a different story.
A few roads where I live run along high ground. The buzzards will sit atop the telegraph poles scanning the fields for rabbits and the like. When you drive by they don't budge an inch. But if you stop or slow down too much to watch them they're gone in a second. Smart creatures birds.

Photographing Ravens

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