Ambush

[Morkel Erasmus]

I went out to a local hide this morning. The weather was dismal but there was some activity.
These White-throated Swallows were quite active.
This was shot in VERY poor light, so I had to sacrifice DOF and SS for some ISO......in hindsight I could have sacrificed 1 stop of ISO for 1 stop of DOF, but I do like it as is...


Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II + 1.4xTC @ 700mm
f5.6 @ 1/320 SS @ ISO-2000
BG as shot (reed reflections in the water)
80% of FF image

[Andrew Merwin]

Morkel, I like this a lot. I like the BG, the leading line of the perch, the focused swallow, & the OOF swallow all add up to tell a story & the action of the landing swallow adds tension to the image. It begs the question: "What happens next?" I think you made a very good choice with your SS, DoF, & ISO. TFS.

[Richard Stern]

Hi,
I agree with Andrew's comments about the bg, perch, composition and story-telling, and you have done a wonderful job, that I would be proud of, to even capture that action. But for me, I find the oof bird distracting, and the movement of the wings together with the position of the rear bird would tell the story even if the rear bird were in focus. However I fully understand the circumstances of taking the shot, and need to sacrifice dof and ss.

Richard

[Bill Jobes]

You captured a great moment, Morkel ! But I can't help but wonder how it would look if the incoming swallow was in focus.

Since the perched bird is perfectly exposed (as is the attacker, by default), may I presume you were camera-set to photograph sitting portraits ?

Certainly nothing wrong with that; I do it all the time.

Putting myself in the same situation, and if the birds' activity included such aggressive behavior, I would probably set my shutter speed as high as possible (1/2000?), set the F stop to 7.1, and put the ISO into the stratosphere, so to speak.

Then, I'd deal with the noise in post-production.

[gail bisson]

Hi Morkel,
Very nice interaction shown but wish the attacking birds' head was in focus.
I see a dark oval area in front of perched bird above branch about one third of the way down. Not sure what it is but would clone out.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Great action shot, Morkel. I think your choise of speed ISO combination worked out pretty nice.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mork, well timed to capture the 'attackers' incoming pose, and no issue with the high ISO as presented. Lovely smooth BG too.

Im not sure where you were, but the weather yesterday morning was great in Pta. A bit of action at LC. Was this at Marievale.

[PhilCook]

Pretty amazing shot Morkel, excellent timing, nicer if both birds in focus, but can appreciate the conditions did not allow for better, did very well considering.....still a great image

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the exposure, colours, soft light, composition. I do wish the incoming bird was sharp too, but I understand the conditions did not allowed for much flexibility in getting both sharp. A fun image with a certain tension and sense of anticipation to it.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the comments folks.
Honestly I would have liked it more with both in focus...but like I said I do like it as is.
Stu - Marievale is correct...

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I like the story it tells of the unsuspecting perched bird being almost snuck up on. :)