James Crombie, a sports photographer from Ireland, stumbled upon a new passion during the pandemic. Initially seeking distraction from the lockdown, he began photographing starling murmurations around Lough Ennell. This unexpected hobby led him to capture a mesmerizing photo that went viral, showcasing the stunning collective flight pattern of thousands of starlings.
It started as a pandemic distraction but ended up producing probably the most famous photo the Westmeath man will ever take - the murmuration that went around the world
Crombie’s astonishing bird-shaped murmuration didn’t just go viral, it went global. It appeared first on the front page of The Irish Times on March 4th, 2021 and from there, it went everywhere. To parts known and unknown – National Geographic, CNN, The New Scientist, everywhere else. Murmuration: James Crombie took hundreds of photographs of starlings at Lough Ennell as he chased the perfect shot. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
“So to go down to the lake and just be there, knowing that nobody is going to care what I produce or if I don’t produce anything, I like that. I’m there on my own, I’m not on the phone, there’s no pressure.” “I always joke with Billy that if I hadn’t won that show, I’d be earning 300 grand a year now and have a second villa down in Spain. But no, I chose sport and photography instead. And it’s been amazing.
A great crested grebe runs along the water on Lough Ennell, Co Westmeath at sunrise. Photograph: James Crombie The murmuration project was entirely without edge, of course. Which was kind of the point. Crombie is married to Ann – they’ve been together since they were teenagers and have four kids. Having a day job that takes him away at weekends and sometimes for weeks at a time is bad enough. Heading off to hang out with a couple of thousand starlings for 300 nights over four years requires a fair bit of understanding on the home front.
How Ireland won relay gold in June 2024: Ten photographs that tell the story of a golden night for Irish athletics But this little lad was just there and I followed him for about seven or eight minutes, maybe nine. Just waiting for him to get into that perfect stance, the way he is in the shot. I got a great buzz out of it.
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