Flock Around: A Bird Photography Experience

A Bullock's oriole captured in 10.0x zoom.

One of my friends bought me a game on Steam yesterday. I usually feel guilty when this happens because I'm so comfortable playing my own games that I don't spend a lot of time playing the ones that people buy for me. A sense of guilt comes over me that they spent money on something I may or may not even participate in. It's not about the game though. It's about spending time with friends. With that in mind, I launched "Flock Around" and joined my friend's lobby.

It immediately brought a smile to my face when I realized that I had spawned into an outhouse. When I opened the door to leave, my friend was standing there. A yellow bean shaped creature holding a camera. The last thing you would want to see right outside the door of an outhouse, but the intention was not to shoot candid photos of my character using the restroom. The camera is for bird photography!

After familiarizing myself with the controls, I was ready to shoot some birds. With the camera of course! With the guidance of my friend, we set forth into the unknown. I was surrounded by a beautiful and vibrant scene full of hedges, trees, flowers, and even a cozy little lake. It was a very sensory experience because you could catch the slight flicker of a feather in a tree while also hearing the calls of many different birds to try to figure out where they were coming from.

Players start out with an entry level camera and basic binoculars. The zoom on the starter camera isn't too great, so you have to take pictures, develop them, and sell them in order to upgrade the camera. The upgrades will allow you to get better shots, which ultimately gives you more money per picture.

The first few photographs I took were rated one star. They give you one to three stars based on the quality of the photo. Factors include things like how big the bird is in the frame, what pose it's in, and whether or not the bird is centered in the shot.

This was my favorite photo of the entire session. It features a Varied Thrush in what appears to be a cherry tree.

After selling mediocre photos for a few minutes, I had enough money to upgrade the zoom on my camera lens to where I was able to take three star quality photos. I was so excited when I got my first three star photo but I was also irritated because of the poor composition of the horizon line. It was too close to the top of the frame and looked very ugly.

As we progressed through the area taking pictures of various bird species, my friend told me I needed to earn fifty stars to open up the next biome. I was filled with excitement because I really wanted to see what new species there were to find in the wetlands. With this surge of motivation, I powered through enough photos to gain access to the new zone.

Unfortunately this is where the journey ended for the night. Real life responsibilities got in the way of continuing our bird photography adventures, so exploring the wetlands will have to wait for another day. I am excited to log back in tomorrow and continue this unexpectedly satisfying experience with my gaming friends.

Thanks to this game, I am inspired to go on real life nature photography hike at one of the local trails! I don't have a zoom lens for bird photography but it won't stop me from attempting to take some good shots of local flora and breathtaking scenery. If my photos don't turn out too good, at least I would be spending time in nature and moving my body.

My friend photographing a Robin.