Barn Swallow

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...allow08_02.jpg


I've been travelling for work for the past couple of weeks so I've not had much time for photography. I got out twice on the weekend and ended creating with my first keeper images of a Barn Swallow.

Canon 40D, Sigma 50-500mm @ 500mm, F 8.0, ISO 400, 1/250. Handheld and cropped to about 60% of full frame. I chose not to use Fill Flash because I had spent over an hour waiting for these birds to land close to my vehicle which I was using as a blind. After all that time I didn't want to frighten them off.

I debated removing the large yellow and white blotches (blooming & ripe dandelions) but decided to leave them as I found them. I should have perhaps boosted the ISO and increased the DOF slightly as well but I'm still pleased to have my first keepers of this species.

Very nice capture. I like the bg a lot as well as the detail. Great looking coloration on this swallow. We have a boatload of swallows this year in our barn, and I have not seen any with that amount of white in the wings.

Thank you Sid. Actually I think that white feathers would normally by lying underneath the wings. The bird had been preening and had got some of its wing under the back/side feathers.

Excellent detail in the wings, Stephen. I like the over-the-shoulder look and that green background.

Stephen
Well done with this one. I really like the colors and the amazing detail. A nice pose and pleasing BG which I personally like. This would be a keeper in my book, too.

Thanks you Gayle and Lana. I'm happy with this image and several others in the series.

Hey Stephen, gald you finally got to create some Barn Swallow images! You got a nice male here - lot's of detail, and perfect head turn!

Nothing quite like a bird on a wire to me. Like everything about it.