Being a good photographer requires a watchful eye and a lot of patience.
Though photography was once considered something of an exclusive hobby, new technology has put professional-grade cameras in nearly everybody’s hands through their smartphones. With that comes many more people taking photos, displaying their work and curating their own aesthetic. Still, there are areas of photography that still require a certain expertise and keen eye that most of us don’t have—areas like nature photography, for example.
And boy do we have a great example of some photos from that genre.
For those who aren’t familiar, Martin Le-May is a photographer based out of East London.
Though Le-May is not exclusively a nature photographer, it seems that he was in the right place at the right time to snap some pretty incredible photos. It all started on a sunny day while he and his wife Ann had been walking around Hornchurch Country Park. “I had hoped she might see a green woodpecker as she had not really seen one before,” Le-May said in an interview with Metro. After a few minutes, they heard some squawking nearby. “I saw that flash of green,” Le-May said, “so hurriedly I pointed the bird out to Ann.”
But what they saw next was pretty unusual.
Though it was definitely a woodpecker they were looking at, it looked like it was hopping around in a strange way.
The pair had been looking at it through binoculars and quickly switched over to a camera instead to get a closer look. After that, everything became clear. “Suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back,” Le-May said. “This was a struggle for life.”
As it turns out, the woodpecker was in the middle of being attacked by a weasel!
Though the situation was terrible for the bird, it made for some truly breathtaking photos.
Le-May had some time to squeeze off a few shots before the woodpecker landed pretty close in front of him.
Fortunately, Le-May and Ann’s presence there helped the little bird out—because the weasel noticed them, too. Apparently, having a couple humans around was enough to scare the weasel into retreating a little bit, saving the bird’s life!
According to Le-May, the bird took that opportunity. “The bird gathered its self respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight,” he said.
This was definitely a case of right place, right time for everybody involved!
Needless to say, Le-May’s photos have gone viral on Twitter and have since been covered by many major media outlets.
Though the situation seemed pretty terrible for the woodpecker, it was actually very fortunate that Le-May and his wife had been out walking that day. Though it was fortunate for the bird, it was also fortunate for Le-May himself, who got some truly incredible photos out of it for his portfolio.
Needless to say, it’s not always easy to be a good nature photographer. Sometimes, though, it just requires that you pay attention to the world around you—and that you have a camera handy.
Congratulations to Martin on these incredible photographs!
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Sources: Healthy Food House
