Symbol-Searching and Pigeon Racing

While skimming through the categories of the big picture, I found a lot that were interesting in general, or ones that told intriguing stories, or ones that were just pleasing to the eye. But this one, entitled "Britain's Pigeon Fanciers," or as I described it, "the one with the pigeons," really stood out to me. I don't know exactly why. It's no big event or iconic photo.  But it was interesting, intriguing, and pleasing to the eye. The color scheme, from the yellowy green in the back to the blue-gray front, is what really caught my attention while I was scrolling through. I suggest you high-res it; it makes it much more powerful. But, on a more delicate level, it's plain cute. Without reading about it, it really makes a statement. A bunch of birds lined up in similar cages? I don't know about you, but that kind of made me want to find out what this was. (By the way, you can find the link to the story here.) And then I was looking through all the pictures. They're all stunning, really. Most are high-quality, color-balanced, and well-taken (and received) photos. For example, if you scroll down a bit at the link you'll see an impressively-outlined bird.

 I think it's kind of ironic that this picture stood out to me. I tend to like stranger animals. But pigeons? The scummy food-foraging birds at the cafes at zoos? But really, they're beautiful. The pictures are phenomenally shot, specifically those of them racing or first being released from their 
cages. The stunning birds were judged and flown, some to victory.

I don't feel like I have an interest in doing anything like this sometime soon, mind you. But this picture really just grasped my attention. Another is this picture of a bull overlooking his or her former stockyard. Besides being powerful and deep on a symbol-ly level, it's just a well-taken shot and makes you think a little.

So to go back to the birds, obviously they're in the photo. It looks like a man either judging or racing his own bird is wandering the cages. At first glance, I'm sure most people notice the colors, but some may not even notice the birds in their cages. I feel like it's so detailed that I can't see everything, like I'm missing something important.

The links are all there, I think, and I strongly suggest you click them and look at the rest of the pigeon photos. (Come on, they're cute.)