Birds in Pictures

When I browse through bird photographs in magazines there are several photographers whose work consistently makes me somewhat envious – and one of these is Markus Varesvuo. After 20 years in the business world, Markus decided to become a full-time professional bird photographer in 2005. Since then he has developed a style that is really distinctive. His images are super-sharp and often at very close range, frequently back-lit, and always stunning. His work is primarily of birds in the Western Palearctic. This is his third major book and almost all of the images were taken in the last three years.

In this hefty (2.6 kg) and lavish tome, there are images of almost 100 species. The work is split into several major sections. Firstly, spanning 200 pages there are stunning sets of images of 20 species including five owls and five grouse. These explore the various aspects of each species’ life including images of chicks, young birds, adults, in flight, at rest, displaying, mating and nesting. Markus has a habit of challenging our traditional approach to photography. For example, how many people would think to photograph a flying Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus against a pure white background? The result is mesmerising and is my favourite image from the book.

In particular, I like the way that he often chooses to take a low angle to birds in water, and that is shown clearly with his images of ducks such as King Eider Somateria spectabilis, Steller’s Eider Polysticta stelleri and Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis. One of the significant changes in bird photography in recent years has been the creation of specific hides for capturing images of birds close up. Clearly, many of the images in this book were obtained using hides, and for me, this does not detract from their appeal.

The remaining sections cover 20-30 pages each and feature collections of birds from Norway, Shetland, Hokkaido, Hungary and Finland. These include not only many of the iconic species that these locations are famous for but also a good selection of commoner birds – including Blackbird Turdus merula and Robin Erithacus rubecula. A brief text accompanies the images which always cover the majority of a page and often a double-spread. For the keen photographers there is an index of the images with full technical details.

Today’s best bird photographers continue to raise the bar with their work, and if you want to see how high that bar has risen this book will show you.