AnimalPhotography Contest - The Freedom of the Crow

Hey guys! Over the next hours I'm going to post two different photos of this particular bird, one for the #animalphotography contest by @juliank, the other one, more portrait-like, for the SPC.

Well, once again we're talking about a shot taken while hiking around the Italian Alps. This particular set of pictures, though, means a lot to me. I was talking a few days ago with one of you professionals out there, swearing my love for crappy old lenses and how they force you to compensate with skill what you can't achieve through technology. This particular lens, originally for a Pentax, is quite dark, has no AF and has a telescopic zoom - meaning to zoom in and out one has to slide it up and down, much like a pirate spyglass. So there I was, an inept wannabe photographer on top of a mountain (quite literally I'm afraid) trying to shoot a bird in mid-flight with that thing. It took a LOT of trial and error. But it trained my eye and my hands like nothing ever did before!

But again, I'm just an amateur. Feel free to drop by and leave suggestions :)