Almost!

[Nonda Surratt]

Trying out Alfred's tip on P Martins, on Swallows

MIII, 400f5.6@f5.6, ISO 320, 1/3200, +2/3

[Kent Wilson]

Better than almost IMHO. Great sky, good light on the bird, beautiful position. Focus is good. OK, do I detect a slight halo above the left wing, just to be picky. I'd love to have made this image. I like i a lot!

[Desmond Chan]

Trying out Alfred's tip on P Martins, on Swallows

MIII, 400f5.6@f5.6, ISO 320, 1/3200, +2/3

Very good Nonda!

I've been practising shooting swallow in flight, too. Would you mind sharing Alfred's tips?

Did you shoot hand-held? Did you have to crop a lot? How far were you from the swallows? Hope you don't mind sharing...eager to learn :D

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Nonda, beautiful all round. Now share...!!!

[Harold Davis]

great job, nonda!!!! looks awesome!! great wing pose, head angle and exposure!!! love it.

[Cheryl Flory]

What was Alfred's tip?

[Nonda Surratt]

Good morning,

Awhile back Alfred posted tips on PM here on eager to learn, next box, wind at your back etc. etc. I'll look for the link. I was probably about 25' off the nest boxes the area has loads of swallows= loads of opportunity. Biggest problem, I'm slow and swallows are very fast:o They would get inside the minimum focus of the 400 often enough so I'm going to try the 300f2.8 with and w/o the 1.4TC. I'm about tempted to have Don stand there and let them swarm him and I'll the stand back and try. Its cropped. Its hand held, 99.% of my images are hand held, BUT Alfred said with PM's it was best to use a lighter lens so you could hand hold.

I got lucky, brain/shutter finger worked at the same time:D

[Nonda Surratt]

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12227

[Alfred Forns]

Real sweet Nonda !!!! Proud of you !!!! Love those curled wingtips and great pose !!!!

For these guys I think a light lens is the answer For Canon people the 400 5.6 or 300 4.0 Nikon 300 4.0 I rather use the 4.0 than the 2.8 because of the weight. In no time you will no be able to bring the lens up or will be having second thoughts. For either I use the close focus and pre focus then let the bird fly in. Do not try to focus, just let the bird fly into focus then acquire and shoot.

They seem to get into a rhythm and you can predict the flight path. One thing to take special not is wind & sun angle. Must have both or you will waste your time. You want the sun/wind on your back. Bird like to land into the wind and usually flare to slow down. No mysteries just take lots of them !!! Good luck !!!

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great capture Nonda. Excellent composition and background colors, very sharp too.
Congrats,

[Nonda Surratt]

Thanks a bunch folks!

Alfred I about broke my arm patting myself on the back for this one, now to see if I can do it twice;)

[Desmond Chan]

For these guys I think a light lens is the answer For Canon people the 400 5.6 or 300 4.0 Nikon 300 4.0 I rather use the 4.0 than the 2.8 because of the weight. In no time you will no be able to bring the lens up or will be having second thoughts. For either I use the close focus and pre focus then let the bird fly in. Do not try to focus, just let the bird fly into focus then acquire and shoot.



I tried to use the 200-400. Like you said, after a while, I started wondering how other could get a shot with the 500 or 600 lens...unless their shots are heavily cropped. Those lenses are just too heavy to swing around fast enough to follow the speedy swallows (but it could just be me). I've been using the 70-300, essentially doing pan shots. Got some shots but have to be cropped to get to the final image. But if you let the bird fly in, perhaps then a heavier lens could work, too. Guess this is one of the time MF could be better, too :)

Thanks for the tips; thanks for sharing, Al and Nonda !!

[Brian Wong]

Hi Nonda!

Congratulations on a very fine image! I like the pose, the position and lighting. Great job! No suggestions for improvement, and encourage everybody that practice, practice, practice, will soon make it easier, faster, automatic!

[Julie Kenward]

Nonda that is one fine looking swallow image! My one and only question...where's his little feet???

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Nonda,
I like this one, great capture with a nice flight angle. love the pale blue sky...:cool:

[Bruce Gove]

Hi Nonda,

Sweet image girl!! I think maybe your success is more than luck:) Very lovely bird, nicely composed and very sharp - really popos against the nice bg!!

Cheers,

Bruce