LET'S EAT

<span style="display: none;" data-cke-bookmark="1">&nbsp;</span>I just love getting opportunities to shoot chicks and this one was so cool yet a real challenge for me and full of more lessons learned when it comes to photography. These barn swallow chicks were found under a bridge in a very dark corner. I had never seen barn swallow chicks so I was super excited to be fortunate to see what I could come up with. The biggest challenge was the light and being able to stop the action of the parent bird coming in to feed while maintaining enough dof to get it all in focus. They would come in and be gone literally in the blink of an eye. Always with precision aim they would fly right into the mouth of a chick and be gone in seconds. For this shot the parent bird stopped for a few seconds probably because the food was a big moth and hard to get into the chicks mouth. The shadows were something I just couldn't avoid but if I get this opportunity again I would love to try some new ways to shoot it<br>
Canon 1DMIV <br>
500mm f4 lens with 1.4 extender<br>
ISO 800 f20 @1/250<br>
Flash set at manual at 1/2 with better beamer <br>
60% of full frame NR added as well as removal of steel eye.

This is really top notch, Cheryl, and it looks as though you did a great job with the flash on this one. It appears as though you couldn't avoid the shadows above. Especially love the moth in the adult's beak and the little one with his mouth wide open. Your DOF looks great as do the colors and all the textures and elements of their environment.

Excellent action shot, Cheryl.
It look interesting the way the beaks are open at different degree, maximum to zero.

I think Mum is trying to teach them how to sing in individual styles.......bass, tenor and soprano....but maybe I have much too vivid an imagination :e3

Swallow nests are always a trwat to find, nice one Cheryl

Your composition is excellent. Great head angles on all three chicks, and the food item, (moth of some type?), is pretty cool. Flash work looks very good.

Amazing work Cheryl, You did extremely well! Congrats.
Sanjeev

Thanks so much friends. I too like the different mouth openings and expressions

You did best you could with the opportunity. All looks good to me...if anything I wish the OOF part at left was not there, but this is a great view of the nest and parent/chick interaction.

You did great with the flash Cheryl.
I love the intimate view of the nest- the crop is just right.
I love Mom's tail resting on the nest. You got great HA's from everybody as well.
Very nice!!Congrats on a great behavior shot with excellent field techs,
Gail

Extremely beautiful image. Looks like painting.Very nice use of light and DOF.
Wonderful interaction you have captured. Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

Hi Cheryl, it seems you achieved what you set out to do. Well timed for the feeding behaviour, and just love that all three chicks are in focus. Flashwork seems spot on, as is the overall exposure. Well captured.

Great to see those different mouth open positions
great flash work, as getting them in dark places is always a big challenge

very cool Cheryl! this is sweet

Love the shot, swallow nests are hard to get to. You did very well with this image.