Wang Guochun: Taking 'Family Photos' for the Birds of His Hometown
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“Early morning birds are busy foraging, it’s difficult to get a good shot, but they become more docile and easier to shoot in the afternoon.” On March 9th, Wang Guochun readily shared his knowledge of bird habits.
Having been photographing birds for three years, in Wang Guochun’s view, birds’ spirit is no less than that of humans. To photograph birds, one must connect with the birds’ hearts and immerse oneself in their living environment.
Crimson Macaw. All pictures provided by Wang Guochun.
Wang Guochun is photographing birds.
White-faced Sparrow.
Wang Guochun lives in Zhugu Township, Zhuoti Village, under the foot of the Qilian Mountains. His home is in a dense forest. Growing up in the forest area, Wang Guochun was fascinated by these little spirits of his hometown. Whenever he went out or heard the melodious calls of these little creatures when opening the window, Wang Guochun’s heart was filled with joy.
“There are many birds in the forest area, but it has been a matter of two or three years to get close to these birds.” Wang Guochun said.
In 2017, after becoming a forest and grassland guardian, Wang Guochun saw a crimson macaque in someone else’s camera, with flamboyant feathers, different from the ones he had seen before. From that time on, Wang Guochun decided to photograph the birds of his hometown.
Initially, when photographing birds, Wang Guochun couldn’t get the effect he wanted. ‘Birds are very vigilant and difficult to photograph closely,’ Wang Guochun said. In early 2008, he spent 8,000 yuan to buy a long-focus camera.
After buying the camera, Wang Guochun always remembered the flamboyant crimson macaque in someone else’s camera. He would run to the bushes where he had previously found the crimson macaque, but many times he was unsuccessful. He climbed many times up the mountains nearby. Finally, one day when returning from patrolling, Wang Guochun saw a large group of crimson macaques preparing to cross the road to forage in the opposite forest. Several of them flew over his car. Wang Guochun slowly stopped his car, extended the camera out of the car window, and spent more than half an hour photographing the beautiful silhouette of the crimson macaque.
Photographing birds requires patience. Once, Wang Guochun went to the snow to photograph birds. Perhaps the birds heard the movement around them and were reluctant to come out to forage until they appeared. That day, Wang Guochun waited for two hours, when the birds appeared, his legs were numb and he couldn’t stand up straight.
Compared to the difficulties encountered in photography, knowing the specific names of the birds photographed is what Wang Guochun struggled the most with. Wang Guochun said that when he first started, he compared and searched online, but some bird names had different interpretations online. Later, he consulted with bird experts in WeChat groups and gradually identified them one by one.
After three years of photography, Wang Guochun’s photo album contains nearly 50 kinds of birds. Continuous tracking and photography, Wang Guochun’s relationship with birds has grown stronger, and he has gradually become a half ‘bird expert’. He photographed the relatively rare Crimson Macaque West-Xining subspecies, which is also a rare record of wild images.
What makes Wang Guochun happy is that the villagers have a very high awareness of loving and protecting birds, and there are few incidents of harming birds.
“Now, the people in the forest area have a higher awareness of loving and protecting birds. In the morning, when they go out or open the window, they can always hear the crisp calls of birds.” Wang Guochun had an idea: to take a ‘family photo’ for the birds of his hometown and contribute to the Qiangshan National Park.
