Photo Focus – ‘Take Flight’, 01/05/16

This is one of my favourite photos I’ve ever taken. It features a magpie flying alongside Winchester cathedral.

I remember the context of this photo vividly. I was exploring a part of Winchester I hadn’t before; the Cathedral Close, down the right-hand side of the cathedral. I saw a bird above, flying from precipice to precipice along the walkway. I thought to myself, why not try and get a photo of it flying?

It flew above me, and I followed it. It stopped to rest on one of the archways. I then anticipated its movements based on the behaviour I’d just been observing, and moved along to the next archway, knowing it was about to fly to it. I raised my phone camera above me and waited. The moment it took off, I pressed the photo button, simply hoping for the best. I didn’t expect to have even caught a picture of the bird mid-flight, but I was hopeful nonetheless.

I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome: A perfectly-central, wings-spread magpie, flying above me with a nice symmetrical view of the cathedral. What’s not to love?

See the photo in all it’s glory here.