Li Shaoyun

Pingtan, China's second international tourism island after Hainan, is nestled off the coast of Fujian Province and serves as a vital stopover and permanent habitat for countless migratory birds, boasting vibrant wetlands and shoals that sustain the island's rich biodiversity. For local photography enthusiast Li Shaoyun, this coastal paradise has been his creative canvas for eight years as he documents the island's avian inhabitants—using only a smartphone.

Li's journey with bird photography began in 2018, a shift from his earlier focus on capturing Pingtan's unique rock formations with a professional camera. What sets him apart among local bird photographers is his unwavering dedication to using a mobile device, embracing its portability despite perceived limitations like shutter lag, limited zoom, and noise in low light. "The restrictions are never in the equipment but in the heart," Li emphasized.

To get close to his feathered subjects, Li developed his own "stealth photography method." He dresses in earthy tones or green to blend with the surroundings, approaches slowly by bending his waist and tiptoeing to avoid noise, and even crawls on his elbows when necessary to remain hidden in grass or wetlands. On one memorable occasion, he removed his shoes and socks to crawl barefoot through cold mud at an abandoned fishpond to photograph the black-faced spoonbill—one of the world's rarest birds with only around 7,000 left globally—without disturbing the elegant creatures.

"Bird photography is like a quiet game of hide-and-seek," Li said. "You're looking for them, and they're sizing you up too." The process is often grueling: he endures muddy legs, scorching sun, and numb limbs from prolonged squatting, yet stays focused from dawn till dusk, particularly cherishing the soft light of morning and evening when birds are most relaxed.

Over the years, Li has become intimately familiar with the habits of Pingtan's birds: the graceful black-winged stilts standing calmly in shallow water, the elegant herons spreading their wings in flight, the playful spot-billed ducks darting across the water's surface, and the precious black-faced spoonbills he holds in deep reverence. With steady hands and a sharp eye, he freezes these moments of natural beauty in his smartphone shots.

For Li, bird photography is more than a hobby—it's a visual journal of his hometown. Through his lens, he captures the vitality of Pingtan's wetlands and the stories of the birds that call it home, proving that a simple smartphone can bridge the gap between humans and nature when paired with passion and patience.