Barn Swallow

[Stephen Stephen]

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.

[Sid Overbey]

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.

[Stephen Stephen]

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.

[Gayle Clement]

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

[Lana Hays]

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.

[Stephen Stephen]

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

[Daniel Cadieux]

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!

[Grady Weed]

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