Capturing Black grouse creatively

The black grouse lek is one of spring’s great wildlife spectacles. Time is often scarce in wildlife photography – but on a black grouse lek, the birds can stay for hours. That offers a rare opportunity to work with different angles and new image ideas. Here are some tips to capture the Black grouse lek with creativity.

There is something special about spring in the forest of Norway. The landscape has been asleep for months. A layer of snow covers the ground vegetation, and only trees rise above. Forced to bow down by the heavy snow on their branches, they are waiting for spring to lighten their load. Perhaps most notable is the silence; the songbirds have migrated south, and the snow dampens every sound. But that is about to change.

It begins with a screech. Aggressive and short, the first bird on the lek calls for the others to join. And soon he is answered. Flapping wings reveal that more and more birds join the lek. It is still dark, too dark to see. But the soundscape is magical. As the display begins, the Black grouse start their bubbling song. The power in their voice is remarkable for their size. And when a full lek is going, the noise can be almost overwhelming. In the cold spring morning, their calls rumble over the mire, and break the silence of winter.

At Photo Tours Norway, we offer four tours a year, where you can photograph the Black grouse lek. The lekking site is one of the best in Norway, and has been used by international media like the BBC for nature documentaries. Some of our tours are also in combination with the Capercaillie lek, another fantastic nature experience, but that is a topic for another time. Now, it is all about the Black grouse.

The lekking arena is not a place for the weak; the Black grouse display, fight and chase each other around every morning. The lek can be filled with feathers, testiment to the brutal battles taking place. All for the right to mate with the females. A Black grouse lek is an action packed performance, with fights, interactions and often very amusing behaviour, making it a fantastic arena for photography

Photographing at the lek requires a hide, and the birds go on with their display as you would not have been there. There are many Black grouse on the mire, displaying on their claimed patches. The birds are spread out, which means you have birds on varying distances, from close to far, and with different backgrounds. The tent openings are large enough for many lenses, so you can experiment with focal lengths and angles. In other words, the Black grouse is a fantastic opportunity to be creative with your images.

More creative and different image ideas naturally follow when you have already captured the classic images, where behaviour and interactions are the center point. This article is meant as inspiration for those who seek to experiment with new types of images and create a diverse portfolio from the exhilarating Black grouse lek.

Winter white out

The first tour of the season is in winter conditions. Snow still covers the mire, but that does not stop the Black grouse. Eager to establish the hierarchy on the lek, the birds fight, whirling up snow in the air. The white snow compliments the plumage of the Black grouse incredibly well, enhancing the striking black, white and red details.

Snow is one of the absolute best conditions for creative and minimalistic wildlife photography. Raising the camera to a higher position in the tent, you can get a completely white background, consisting of just snow. Working on a white canvas, you can experiment with shapes, patterns and details, reducing the elements in the image to only the most important features. In the images below, the symmetry of the displaying Black grouse is the focus, enhanced by the all-white, minimalistic expression.

Include the elements

A good place to start with more creative images is to work with the elements you are presented with. That could be many things, such as textures, leading lines or colour. Or, in this case, light conditions and elements created by the birds behaviour.

On our Black grouse lek, the quality of light at sunrise is fantastic to work with. As in many of the images created on the lek, the orange glow is truly amazing. With light conditions of such quality, is is possible to work with more minimalistic images, as the glow creates an area of interest.

On days with no wind and cold temperatures, the breath of the Black grouse is visible. Backlit by the rising sun, the breath dances its way through the air, creating unique shapes and a beautiful element to direct your viewers attention to. Similarly, the backlight enhances particles whirled up in the air by the fighting birds. Water droplets, falling down like rain after a coming together, creates a really interesting effect.

Backlight can also create some surprising flares and results, such as the image below. In this case, the golden sunrise is long gone and the quality of light lower. Still, with a creative angle it is poosible to play with the light and get some unique results. The image is made possible by an ice crystal in the foreground creating an incredible sparkle with the colours of the rainbow, with the dark, distant forest edge in the background.

Get low!

A general rule in wildlife photography is to get low, and photograph on eye level with your subject. That is very much applicable on the Black grouse lek, and is why our tents have openings that allow you to photograph with your lens as low as you can go. Here, photographing low has two main advantages. You introduce foreground elements, which can add some interesting textures and patterns to the image. And you change the background, from grasses right behind the birds to the distant forest edge. With underexposure, the dark trees go black, enabling a more minimalistic approach.

Play with perspectives

A Black grouse lek can be chaotic. Even though the individual birds have their favorite spots where they display, there is constant movement. Fights can break out anytime. An important part of photographing scenes with many birds, is to create a sense of order. It is a difficult balance; we want to show the viewer that there is an interaction, whilst making a clean, visually pleasing image. One way of making such images, is to play with the perspectives. As the birds are spread out on the lek, they can appear in the background or foreground. Use this to your advantage, to create an extra layer to portrait images of one single bird. With a shallow depth of field, the second bird can be blurred to give a sense of the interaction, whilst not distracting from your main subject.

Final remarks

The Black grouse lek is an experience many photographers look forward to every spring. For good reason, it is called the biggest adventure of spring here in Norway. This article has hopefully provided some inspiration for new image ideas and creative possibilities, wether it is your first or hundreth time photographing the incredible lek of the Black grouse.

Interested in joining us at the Black grouse lek? Check out our tours in the links below:

Black grouse in winter conditions

Black grouse and Capercaillie