A wildlife fan spent four months planning a 'once in a lifetime' snap of an open-winged buzzard - which he eventually caught after ten days hidden in a shallow grave.
Colin Crowdey, from Gloucester, wanted to capture the perfect 'prey's eye view' of a bird swooping on its prey.
Knowing it would be a tough ask, he spent months watching the buzzard for up to nine hours a day in the hope of learning its exact flight path.
He concluded that he'd be best served for the dream shot by pretending to be a scurrying vole - a role which involved him burying himself in the ground.
This amazing 'prey's-eye view' of a buzzard coming in for the kill took FOUR MONTHS of planning – and here's how it was done
Photographer Colin Crowdey was desperate to capture the perfect photo of a wild buzzard swooping on its prey
He put months of meticulous planning into the shot, including calculating the bird's exact flightpath and timings
Spent ten days hidden in a purposely dug shallow grave until it finally flew overhead in all its open-winged glory
By Euan McLelland For MailOnline
21 August 2015
Daily Mail
A wildlife fan spent four months planning a 'once in a lifetime' snap of an open-winged buzzard - which he eventually caught after ten days hidden in a shallow grave.
Colin Crowdey, from Gloucester, wanted to capture the perfect 'prey's eye view' of a bird swooping on its prey.
Knowing it would be a tough ask, he spent months watching the buzzard for up to nine hours a day in the hope of learning its exact flight path.
He concluded that he'd be best served for the dream shot by pretending to be a scurrying vole - a role which involved him burying himself in the ground.
This 'once in a lifetime' photograph was caught by Colin Crowdey after four months of elaborate planning - and ten days hidden in a shallow grave pretending to be a vole
The keen wildlife photographer dug an 18-inch 'shallow grave' and lay motionless in it but almost gave up when the bird sensed the change and altered its flight path.
But determined to get his shot, Colin, 49, remained in the hole for ten days until he got the unbelievable snap as the bird passed overhead.
Colin said: 'It took a huge amount of planning and an immense amount of patience and if I'm honest after ten days lay in the hole I was close to giving in.
'I had multiple shots that had come out blurry or ended up with nothing in the frame, but when I got that shot I couldn't believe it.
'It was exactly what I had wanted but even better than I could have imagined as it's a once in a lifetime shot. And what is most remarkable is that it was the only usable shot out of everything I took over the ten days.
'My partner Vanessa thought I was crazy just how many hours every day I spent out there and couldn't believe I was sticking with it. But the day I came home with the photo she knew I had it before I even opened my mouth, I must have looked so happy. She loves the shot and now agrees it was worth all the hard work.'
Colin, who has been with Vanessa Moore, 46, for three years, came up with the idea in March after seeing a similar shot of an owl swooping on its prey captured by the BBC using a remote camera.
Colin spent four months preparing for his 'dream' shot. This sketch illustrates how his plan worked. It shows the 18-inch shallow grave he dug into the ground in a field near his home, which he then hid in for ten days. The drawing details how his hole was surrounded by trees and bushes and lay beside a wooden fence. It makes clear how he planned to shot at an angle of around 30 degrees as the buzzard swooped in
So Colin began going to a field 10 miles from his home where he knew a buzzard lived, having seen it in the area numerous times over the last five years.
He'd spend the entire day there, teaching himself the patterns and flight paths that the buzzard took, finding that it favoured regular flights out morning and evening, fetching food for its young babies.
Colin, who has a five-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, said: 'After seeing the BBC's shot of the owl swooping on its prey I thought it would be wonderful to try and capture a similar shot but not using a remote camera. While remote cameras are great for capturing shots that people can't, nothing compares to getting it yourself. I eventually realised that the only way I could do it was by taking on the role of the prey, like a vole, and burrowing down in a hide in the ground.
This second drawing again shows the 18-inch grave running for six-feet alongside the fence, which itself is four-feet high. Detailed in the scribbled note above the fence is how the main focal point of the shot will be the top of one of its wooden posts, and from what angle the sun will be shining in both the AM and PM hours. On the right is a separate sketch of the fence (dotted line) and the grave (filled rectangular box) and the buzzard's flight path passing between the two
'This took even more planning as I had to get permission from the landowner who agreed I could dig into the ground as long as I returned it all back to how it was once I was done.'
But even once the hole was dug and Colin was hid away in it for two shift a day - from 7am-12pm and then 4pm-7pm each evening - there were further complications.
Colin, who works as a pet photographer when not snapping wildlife, said: 'The buzzard must have realised that something was different about the ground and changed its flight path. They are very intelligent birds of prey so this wasn't that surprising but it was very frustrating as for the first few days I was lay there and the bird wasn't even flying over.
Colin (pictured) came up with the idea in March after seeing a similar shot of an owl swooping on its prey captured by the BBC using a remote camera
'Then once it did start flying back over, capturing the shot was very difficult. I needed the widest lens possible to stand any hope of getting it. But after 10 days when all I had got were blurred or empty shots, I was close to giving up. My back was agony and I didn't know how much longer I could keep coming.
'But when I did get it I was so pleased. It made it all worth it. It's such a majestic bird and I'm really pleased to have captured the kind of shot that usually you would need remote cameras and lots of technology to get. It was wonderful to get it in person.
'To be honest, seeing the bird each morning and evening was an experience in itself and would have been worth it even if I hadn't had got the picture - but that was the icing on the cake.'
Colin Crowdey, from Gloucester, wanted to capture the perfect 'prey's eye view' of a bird swooping on its prey.
Knowing it would be a tough ask, he spent months watching the buzzard for up to nine hours a day in the hope of learning its exact flight path.
He concluded that he'd be best served for the dream shot by pretending to be a scurrying vole - a role which involved him burying himself in the ground.
This amazing 'prey's-eye view' of a buzzard coming in for the kill took FOUR MONTHS of planning – and here's how it was done
Photographer Colin Crowdey was desperate to capture the perfect photo of a wild buzzard swooping on its prey
He put months of meticulous planning into the shot, including calculating the bird's exact flightpath and timings
Spent ten days hidden in a purposely dug shallow grave until it finally flew overhead in all its open-winged glory
By Euan McLelland For MailOnline
21 August 2015
Daily Mail
A wildlife fan spent four months planning a 'once in a lifetime' snap of an open-winged buzzard - which he eventually caught after ten days hidden in a shallow grave.
Colin Crowdey, from Gloucester, wanted to capture the perfect 'prey's eye view' of a bird swooping on its prey.
Knowing it would be a tough ask, he spent months watching the buzzard for up to nine hours a day in the hope of learning its exact flight path.
He concluded that he'd be best served for the dream shot by pretending to be a scurrying vole - a role which involved him burying himself in the ground.
The keen wildlife photographer dug an 18-inch 'shallow grave' and lay motionless in it but almost gave up when the bird sensed the change and altered its flight path.
But determined to get his shot, Colin, 49, remained in the hole for ten days until he got the unbelievable snap as the bird passed overhead.
Colin said: 'It took a huge amount of planning and an immense amount of patience and if I'm honest after ten days lay in the hole I was close to giving in.
'I had multiple shots that had come out blurry or ended up with nothing in the frame, but when I got that shot I couldn't believe it.
'It was exactly what I had wanted but even better than I could have imagined as it's a once in a lifetime shot. And what is most remarkable is that it was the only usable shot out of everything I took over the ten days.
'My partner Vanessa thought I was crazy just how many hours every day I spent out there and couldn't believe I was sticking with it. But the day I came home with the photo she knew I had it before I even opened my mouth, I must have looked so happy. She loves the shot and now agrees it was worth all the hard work.'
Colin, who has been with Vanessa Moore, 46, for three years, came up with the idea in March after seeing a similar shot of an owl swooping on its prey captured by the BBC using a remote camera.
So Colin began going to a field 10 miles from his home where he knew a buzzard lived, having seen it in the area numerous times over the last five years.
He'd spend the entire day there, teaching himself the patterns and flight paths that the buzzard took, finding that it favoured regular flights out morning and evening, fetching food for its young babies.
Colin, who has a five-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, said: 'After seeing the BBC's shot of the owl swooping on its prey I thought it would be wonderful to try and capture a similar shot but not using a remote camera. While remote cameras are great for capturing shots that people can't, nothing compares to getting it yourself. I eventually realised that the only way I could do it was by taking on the role of the prey, like a vole, and burrowing down in a hide in the ground.
'This took even more planning as I had to get permission from the landowner who agreed I could dig into the ground as long as I returned it all back to how it was once I was done.'
But even once the hole was dug and Colin was hid away in it for two shift a day - from 7am-12pm and then 4pm-7pm each evening - there were further complications.
Colin, who works as a pet photographer when not snapping wildlife, said: 'The buzzard must have realised that something was different about the ground and changed its flight path. They are very intelligent birds of prey so this wasn't that surprising but it was very frustrating as for the first few days I was lay there and the bird wasn't even flying over.
'Then once it did start flying back over, capturing the shot was very difficult. I needed the widest lens possible to stand any hope of getting it. But after 10 days when all I had got were blurred or empty shots, I was close to giving up. My back was agony and I didn't know how much longer I could keep coming.
'But when I did get it I was so pleased. It made it all worth it. It's such a majestic bird and I'm really pleased to have captured the kind of shot that usually you would need remote cameras and lots of technology to get. It was wonderful to get it in person.
'To be honest, seeing the bird each morning and evening was an experience in itself and would have been worth it even if I hadn't had got the picture - but that was the icing on the cake.'