Tree Swallow

[Warren Spreng]

Found a new place to do birding at Long Branch Farm, part of the Cincinnati Nature Center group. Great location, terrific birding, now if they would only come out of hiding more often and pose for me! One of the better shots when this Tree Swallow posed and allowed me to closely approach him. One of the hardest birds IMO to shoot due to their iridescent blue feathers and bright white bellies! And of course the early morning sun was just a tad harsh, but I loved the HP in this shot. Brought up exposure in LR and reduced highlights and whites to try for some better balance. In PS I brought down the bright spot in the UL corner, and added some canvas at the bottom along with the left wingtip.
Canon 7D Mark II, Tamron 150-600mm, 600mm, ISO 800, 1/1250, f/8.0, HH, AF, early morning and clear skies.

[Adhika Lie]

Hi Warren! This is an amazing shot. The pose is very good and even though I am wishing for a slightly more DOF on the tail, but it doesn't mean that it detract from the image. I have seen this bird personally (though not up close) and was amazed by its viridian feather. Tonality is spot on to my eyes; I love your processing to bring out the head from the shadows. There is almost a sheen on the head. I won't know that you have reconstructed the wing tip. haha. I love that Tamron lens.

[Warren Spreng]

Thanks Adhika! I first saw one of these at my cottage in MI when a pair built a nest in a wren house. I had to keep making the hole bigger so they could get in because they kept coming back to it trying to get in. After the eggs were laid the male would sit on top of the house and sing his heart out! Love to watch them swoop over fields catching insects in the air.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice, with great sharpness on the face! Maybe just a slight boost in exposure??

Softer light would help, but we take want we can find. Going to f/16 would have doubled the DOF but probably wouldn't have covered all of the tail. Beyond that you'll get diffraction softening, which you might begin to see even at f/11 or f/13.

Hope you get some more of these guys!

[Warren Spreng]

Thanks Diane! I didn't even stop to think about changing the f stop! And I stood there about 5 minutes taking multiple shots!!

[Diane Miller]

Since you were hand holding, a smaller aperture would have cost you a slower SS or higher ISO, so you were probably close to the sweet spot. On a tripod with a still subject, I will sometimes try to do a quick focus override to get 2-3 shots at different focus points, and assemble them in PS. Open the images as a layer stack, select all and do Edit > Auto Align Layers then Edit > Auto Blend Layers. Sometimes is works well.

[Warren Spreng]

Since you were hand holding, a smaller aperture would have cost you a slower SS or higher ISO, so you were probably close to the sweet spot. On a tripod with a still subject, I will sometimes try to do a quick focus override to get 2-3 shots at different focus points, and assemble them in PS. Open the images as a layer stack, select all and do Edit > Auto Align Layers then Edit > Auto Blend Layers. Sometimes is works well.

I actually did think about that, of course, after the bird flew away!! I'm hoping one of the benefits of this hobby will be to help keep my mind sharp!!

[Jim Keener]

This was fun to look at and mentally review. Adhika and Diane covered most of what I observed. I especially agree with Diane's comment about a slight increase in exposure. But then you've managed to keep detail in the whites on the throat and that might be affected by an overall increase in exposure. Congratulations on this capture. The excitement of the hunt! And TFS.

[Warren Spreng]

Thanks Jim!