A small bird in a big blue sky
Sorry, it's me...and another swallow...again :D:D I think very soon the swallows will be gone though ;)
D300 300mm; ISO 400 f2.8 1/3200 sec; manual exposure mode, natural light only; hand-held. Toned down the exposure, cropped :D and sharpened.
How is this holding up? I think with a D3 or a 1Ds M III the result would be better.
Thanks for looking !!
Last edited by Desmond Chan; 09-03-2008 at 11:34 PM.
Hi Desmond
Are you shooting in 14 bit? If you are there should not be much difference to the D3 at all. It will slow your burst rate to a slow crawl but worth it. I have both and find myself using he D300 a lot.
Image is holding better than the last one Still would like the bird larger in frame. One interesting point, I have used the 300 2.8 for these type with Fab's lens but rather use my 4.0 Have difficulty framing the little guys with the heavier lens and staying ready for the many passes.
Hi Desmond,
I think this is a better effort than your first pic. Have you cropped this image heavily?
I like that you have the bird frozen from wingtip to wingtip. They are so small it is hard to do.
The colour of the sky looks a bit weird to me.
Good job with the capture and looks better bigger IMO.
Desmond, catching these fast little guys is extremely difficult and I admire your tenacity and it's paying off. Nice BIF...
Hi Desmond,
I need that bird larger, to fill the frame...:cool: Also he seems to be over sharpened. Nice capture. With this type of capture, you have to have patience and wait for him to come to you...:)
I wish I could fill the frame with it but I'm afraid that's beyond my skills at this point :o And I could be patient but it doesn't mean the swallow would come to me. Swallows are different from, say, great blue heron, in that they change direction sharp and fast. Not to mention they're only about 5-6 inches in length with a wing span of 13-15 inches. The closer they're to you, the faster they appear to fly. And it is very fast in such a close proximity. I have to say my reflex is not up there yet :oOriginally Posted by Gus Cobos
Thanks for the comments, guys !! I can assure you I'll keep trying though.
I just bought the book "The Miracle of Flight" by Stephen Dalton. On page 109 it has a photo of a swallow flying through a two inch space in an old stable door.
Last edited by Desmond Chan; 09-04-2008 at 08:07 PM.
No. I primarily shooting in 12 bit to get the fast burst rate. Now that you mentioned it, I think I'll try the 14 bit and see if that helps. I shot BIF with S5 before (14 bit raw file only) and so I believe I can live with that slow burst rate.
I think the 300 f2.8 is twice as heavy as the f4. To handle it, I have to work out my arms and shoulders. I think it still is easier than swinging around with a 200-400. The fact that the 300 is 3 inches shorter helps quite a bit I think.One interesting point, I have used the 300 2.8 for these type with Fab's lens but rather use my 4.0 Have difficulty framing the little guys with the heavier lens and staying ready for the many passes.
Hey, Doug Brown shots swallows in flight with a 500mm, too ;)
Last edited by Desmond Chan; 09-04-2008 at 08:08 PM.
You don't mention any exposure compensation. If you metered the sky in manual mode, did you add any light for the dark bird?
If I metered the sky, I think I would. But for this series of shots, I metered the trees and grass, primarily relying on taking test shots, reviewed and adjusted the exposure until it was correct. Exposure compensation adjustment that works in auto mode does not work in manual mode. As far as this pic goes, I ended up over-exposed it a bit. And as you can see, this is not a back-lit shot.
Thanks for looking.
Cropped a lot...since I was recommended to fill the frame with the bird :D since I was not that close to the bird (standing by the pond and the bird was over the water). Remember the bird itself is only about 5 inches in length with a wing span of about 13, 14 inches. I said the result would be better with those full frame cameras because I've seen heavy crop from photos taken with a Canon M II and the details of the small birds are still there. Simply amazing.
Last edited by Desmond Chan; 09-05-2008 at 01:12 AM.
Great capture Desmond. For sure this one is better than your first. Tough birds to get in flight. You did very well my friend.
Regards,
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