Tree Swallow in the Rain

[Daniel Grossi]

One of only a few shots from a mostly unsuccessful morning of shooting the other day. This lonely Tree Swallow and I were the only ones willing to deal with the rain (and mosquitoes) it seemed.

D500
Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6e VR @ 500mm
1/125
f/5.6
ISO-800
Center Weight Average

Cleveland, Ohio
May 2017
Cool 100% overcast and rainy an hour after sunrise.

[Alex Becker]

Hi Daniel, I really like the water streaks, the clean BG, and the facial expression of this guy. On first glance I was wondering if you should clone of the LHS perch but after looking for a bit I do like it included. I feel that the bird itself doesn't have as much detail as I would expect and seems a bit smoothed over. But that could be tha rain perhaps. TFS

[John Mack]

Nice perch, i like the rain and background, just wish the bird wasn't so centered in the frame.

[Daniel Grossi]

Hi Daniel, I really like the water streaks, the clean BG, and the facial expression of this guy. On first glance I was wondering if you should clone of the LHS perch but after looking for a bit I do like it included. I feel that the bird itself doesn't have as much detail as I would expect and seems a bit smoothed over. But that could be tha rain perhaps. TFS

Thanks Alex! I actually chose to keep the LHS perch so it builds a sort of diagonal from the other side. I think the softness or lack of detail on the bird was due to the lighting conditions. It was a thick overcast hence the settings. I'm still hesitant to shoot above ISO-800 for now.

[Daniel Grossi]

Nice perch, i like the rain and background, just wish the bird wasn't so centered in the frame.

Thanks John! My reasoning for nearly centering the subject was based where the bird was looking. I'm going to take another look in LR and see if a different crop would improve this image.