Tree Swallow

[Miguel Palaviccini]

First post here, but am glad I finally found this place!

This is an image of a Tree Swallows that I took on a recent trip to Michigan. The parents were coming in to a nest with different insects and feeding their young. I had to prefocus on a plane that I thought they would fly through, and then fire when I saw them coming in. This one is perhaps my favorite from all of the ones that I took (100+).

Nikon d300s + 500 f/4 VR on tripod
500 mm | 1/2000" | f/5.6 | ISO 1100

Critiques and comments are welcomed and appreciated!

http://pcdn.500px.net/8959988/f36a592a21545ed1a3be3f6ab4b50039c4f629f3/4.jpg (http://500px.com/photo/8959988)
Tree Swallow (http://500px.com/photo/8959988) by Miguel Palaviccini (http://500px.com/MiguelPalaviccini)

[Satish Ranadive]

Welcome to BPN.. Miguel.
I like the technique.I like the pose of bird with blurred wings.
Wish nearer wing should not have covered head,and head angle would have towards viewer. but still good eye contact.
Nice BG.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Miguel! You've tackled a tough subject to photograph in flight. Good technique and the exposure looks good, but I still see a bit of softness on the face that looks like subtle subject motion. I also would have prefered the subject not flying away from us. Great BG.

Hope to see more from you!

[Matthew Studebaker]

nice clean background, I like the bug in the mouth. Wish it was a tad sharper.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks for the comments guys! In retrospect, I should have set up more to the right to get a better view of her flying in - so that it doesn't look like she's flying away from me. I'm stills struggling with sharpening. I usually resize for web and then sharpen, but still haven't found a 'recipe' that I like. Any ideas would be great!