These guys are almost impossible to get in flight. Got this decent shot when he landed on his home. This is about 50% crop, this swallows significant other was also in the frame but out of focus. I did manage to get a pic of him in flight but he's a bit blurry, maybe I'll post it next time. Please critique, Thanks
Canon EOS 20D
Tamron 200-500mm@ 500mm
Tv 1/350
Av 5.6
ISO 100
Location: Allen's Pond Wildlife Refuge
Westport, MA
I agree, they are a challenge, even with a very fast focusing lens. I don't know about the auto focusing speed of your lens, but suspect the swallows challenge it and you!
Well exposed, light quite a bit to the right, but the birds nice look back head angle helps mitigate that to a certain extent. Nice background.
The crop is hurting the detail rendering a bit. I do think it would be worth another round of USM on the head and eye esp.
The cropping of the image is a challenge. Even though he is looking back, it needs a little more room in front. I would also probably crop up from the bottom to eliminate the side of the birdhouse, unless you feel its important to the message of your image.
Thanks for sharing. Keep working on the inflight shots. Sometimes if you prefocus on their house and anticipate where they are going to land, you can freeze them nicely.
Challenging bird indeed. I have yet to get one I would post. I like the background, head angle, and the exposure looks good. Randy has provide some good advise. If they are routinely in the same area you might try setting up perch and a blind/hind so that you could get a little closer. I have tried this to some degree of success in my backyard. It looks like your off to a good start. Keep them coming.
Had thousands of these birds flying all around me earlier this year and couldn't capture even one in flight. I would have liked to see this bird photographed in a softer light. You have a nice head angle. What hurts this picture a bit for me is the composition. I wonder if you may have been able to move to your left when photographing this bird whereby you may have been able to place it in the right of the frame. You did well to capture this little rascal. Keep them coming & thank you for sharing.
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I took this pic around mid-day and couldn't get in a better position because I was standing on a board walk that crosses a marsh. It's times like these I wish I could hover to get into a better position lol. The reason for the crop too tight to the left is because of another swallow that was standing there and was out of focus.
Brian
Tree Swallow
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