Tree swallow family lunch

[Martin Lord]

There has to be a first image post on BPN, here it is. This image was made earlier in July at Potter's marsh, Anchorage.

There was a pretty large colony of tree swallows with a few chicks perching, waiting for parents to bring food. It is a lot of waiting followed by a split second of action. There was a heavy cloud cover and I stuck with ISO 400.

Canon 1Dm4, 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4 III, Gitzo, Mongoose M-3.6, ISO 400, Av, 1/400, f/5.6, +1/3EV.

Small crop, curves, removed a small piece of branch with LR 4.1 and CS6, NIK tonal contrast.

[Dan Brown]

Nice first post for sure, Martin! I like the fact that all three heads are in focus here! Really nice BG also. The wing blurs are showing action. Maybe a little room on the bottom would be good. You could add canvas if your ethics allow? Or, maybe the original capture has room? Welcome, BTW!

[Joe Senzatimore]

Great capture and wonderful first post. Love the clean BG and super comp.
Welcome.:wave:

[PhilCook]

Well done, bit of motion blur on the wings adds life to the image and sharp where it needs to be, not an easy capture so extra kudos, love the little one reaching over it's siblings back to get his share, great stuff !

[dankearl]

Very nice to get all in focus, nice angle, not an easy species to get.
Very nice work!

[Satish Ranadive]

Welcome to BPN.
Magnificent image of beautiful interaction.Agree with Phil about motion blur wing.
Love the cute ones and mom.

Satish.

[Frank Schauf]

A great dynamic situation, congratulations, Martin.

[gail bisson]

Welcome to BPN!
A good solid first post!
Perfect timing to get the parents' beak in the chicks' mouth. Love the far chick open mouth.
I would add a bit more room down below and desaturate the BG a bit.
I see a dust spot along top edge of frame, right in the middle-easy fix.
Gail

[Martin Lord]

Gail and Dan, There is room in the original picture at the bottom, I can definitely add more space. Presenting an image in 1024x800 makes me more cropping happy but I will learn to resist the urge ;-)

Gail, Thanks for your comment on the background, good eye. I found the background to be more offending (too saturated) on the print that made on my IPF5100 after this post, especially compared with another image from the same day, same location and I lighted it up. See image below, that BG worked a lot better on the prints. You got it right away.

116508

I see the little spot now too.

Thanks again all,

/martin

[Karl Egressy]

Great action shot, nice first post.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome to BPN Martin!! Awesome action here on your first post. I love the far chick reaching over its' sibling's wing...how cool! The wing blur works well, but I still would have upped the ISO for more SS. Agree with more below (and right to retain ratio). Looking forward to more!!:S3:

[Aidan Briggs]

Great seeing you on here Martin! The smooth green BG, soft lighting, and interaction really make this image. I don't mind the wing blur, but agree using a higher shutter speed and ISO might have been better.

Looking forward to more!