I was practicing shooting flying swallows. Apparently, still nothing to show :o Then found a couple of swallows perching by the side of the patio. So thought I might as well take a shot at it.
D300 200-400 @ 400mmm; f10 1/320 sec ISO 800; Cropped. Converted. No flash. Short under pretty harsh light...some part of the bird is too dark. :o
C&C welcome !
By the way, I've found it very difficult to get the details of those orange feathers on the chest and belly to show. I have the same problem with the Robins. Any idea why?
Last edited by Desmond Chan; 07-22-2008 at 11:43 PM.
Did very well with the light Desmond Very fine bird and pose !!!
Couple of suggestions Would take some from the bottom and tiny from left. On the set up would have gone wide open or at least just stopping one to minimize the bg I know you are trying for more dof but it does bring the bg into play. Just a trade off Would also remove the light oof branches intersecting the bird Very fine image I like it a lot !!!
Nice portrait of the pretty barn swallow, Desmond. I like Al's repost, especially the removal of the oof light branches. There is still detail left in the darkest areas if you care to pull it out.
Beautiful bird, Desmond. "Just a barn swallow" - fewer birds are prettier.
I think the breast feathers are soft because in real life they are soft and not defined. I carve birds, and bird carvers use a burning tool to define the primary and secondary feathers and the feathers on the head and tail, because this gives the barbules a sharp defined and hard look. The breast, however, is textured with a stone, because the effect is much softer and less defined. Much effort is taken on the breast to make the feather edges NOT stand out on most carvings. I think a cedar waxwing is the penultimate example of this softness.
Your bird is in sharp focus. I really like this post. The blurred background on the repost does look better IMO. Thank you for posting this.
Dave: Your information about the softness of feathers, and sometimes they are not being naturally defined, is something I've thought about a number of times. I first noticed it with the white feathers of wood storks, that even though I thought the exposure was good, and the image in focus, I couldn't get much detail in this area of the bird. There are other examples, and I could never determine for certainty that the lack of detail was due to the feathers being soft and fine(though I suspected this was the case) or there were technical problems. This has been brought to the forefront since I've been here at BPN and have been using USM on a number of images. Failure to get a section of a birds feathers sharp, when focus and light conditions were ideal, has been perplexing, and I think you may have given a reason for the difficulty. Thank You very much~Bill
Barn Swallow
