Lights, cameras... where are the pigeons?

 

Here's me trying to perfect my sincere and welcoming smile,
without appearing unbearably smug. More work needed, I'd say!

Yesterday I was in a pigeon hide with David Wright trying to film the last few sequences for our forthcoming pigeon shooting DVD. We were on some glorious rolling farmland near the MoD training area on Salisbury Plain. The weather was fabulous - bright sunshine, blue skies and not a breath of wind. Sadly, that's not the weather you need to see pigeons.

 David remained irrepressibly cheerful throughout, despite having
to sit on the frozen ground inside the hide to work on the script

There were plenty of pigeons when we arrived at the farmhouse - on the roof, in the ivy, on the trees around the farmyard, and flying overhead in clouds. And they were still there when we got back at the end of the day. But out on the farmland? Not a lot! Between five guns, spread over the farm, we had a total bag of 29 birds and 2 squirrels.

 I was shooting this Beretta AL391 Urika. I'm not normally a fan of
semi-autos, but for pigeons you can't beat it - a rugged, no nonsense tool

Still, on the bright side, we did get lots of the essential 'pieces to camera' done. When there are lots of birds to shoot, it's hard to tear yourself away for mundane details like an intro and links from one scene to the next. Now, with those 'in the can', we can begin to piece the whole thing together.

A frustrating day, but a productive one nevertheless.