Book Cover Photographer Info

WorldPhoto.org

About the Photographer:

Daniel Biber is the photographer who captured the amazing photograph displayed on the book cover. The photograph is of murmurations, flocks of starlings, that he was able to capture at the perfect spot and at the perfect moment while visiting Spain in 2016. Daniel is a semi-professional photographer and an aerospace engineer, living in Hilzingen, Germany. He owns a highly specialized bicycle business.

In 2018, he won 1st Place in the Swiss Ornithological Institute Wildlife Photography Competition. After winning the competition, he responded with, “I often heard the reproach, ‘It must be a fake! That will never happen in reality!’ But the jury proved the authenticity based on the orginal RAW files that ensured there were no manipulations. That was one of the reasons to publish a complete series of the flocks, where you can see how the different shapes appear and then dissipate. No retouching was necessary! It would have been too much work to manipulate the pictures. The complete series includes 26 images!” This series of images was captured in a 10-second window on the 31st December 2016 near Sant Pere Pescador in Catalonia, Spain.

Winner Gallery

“For years I have observed huge flocks of starlings on the Costa Brava. It took me several days to scout out the location where the starlings gather at sunset to roost. I shot thousands of pictures and had the great luck to capture the moment that the murmuration took on the shape of a large flying bird! The shape then dissipated, and the birds began to reshape ending up as another impressive bird shape.” It was only after he got home and uploaded the photographs into his computer that he realized how truly amazing they are!

As I was contemplating ideas for my book cover, I decided to look for photographs of flocks of starlings like the ones I was very blessed to see, (for the very first time in my life), just a couple days before my very tragic day. I remember being completely mesmerized and wishing I could be one of them. I remember thinking how amazing it would be to be free, flying high above it all.

Once I discovered this picture, it took me a little time to find the name and location of the photographer. I found him in Germany! I reached out to him right away. He was gracious enough to work out a deal with me to receive the rights to use the photograph for my book!

Thank you Daniel! It’s certainly one of the most evident glimpses of God that I witnessed during that particularly low time in my life. I am very grateful to be able to share this truly amazing gift with the world!