This image was made in Oceanside, Ca. where the Tree Swallows nests in holes in the Agave stalks made by Woodpeckers and it seems to work out well for everyone who needs a place to raise their young ones. My second post here and am eager to here critiques and comments.
MkIIN
500 4/L
1/1600-f/4
exp. comp. -1/3
iso 800
chrismayne.net
Last edited by chris mayne; 08-22-2009 at 10:37 AM.
I love this image, the sense of moment is perfect. I even like the oof back wing, it helps concentrate our attention to the action. Great bkgrnd, sharpness.
Not entirely sure, but the focus seems sharpest on the log which may be a bit in front of the birds. But this is a nit.
I calibrate my 500f4 to err on the side of backfocus for this reason. The af always grabs front stuff first.
Hi, Ben you might be correct on the focus. This was taken awhile ago and as I recall, because the Swallow comes in out of nowhere and from any direction, extremely fast, I tried to focus on the leading edge of the tree because moving off into space was just proving futile. A tough subject for sure.
Hi Chris, love the action and timing of the shot, lighting and exposure very good. I might have taken a bit off the tree on the left and wish that the adult was more in focus. Was there some cloning just to the right of the tree in the middle, seems to be some bg shadow repeating?
Hi Art, Thank you. No cloning. That is probably a distant light through the stand of trees behind the bird. I agree on the sharpness and could have done a better job on bringing the bird in a bit sharper.
Cool image. How can the parent not crash land into the youngsters face? Wish for the adult to be in focus too. Perhaps combining two images with different focus? And lots of luck & time. JR
If possible I would place a flash closer to the nest with a remote trigger and shoot with F8 or F11 to gain some more DOF. Rather than depending on ambient light and shutter speed, use flash to freeze the action. Similar to what we do with humming birds. Do you thing some thing like this would have worked?
Watching Joe McNally too much on kelbytraining lately.. :)
Hi Sid, Thanks you. I am positive that the flash would have been a great way to go. Of course when I found these, my flash gear was 30 miles away. Isn't that the way it is sometimes? As soon as the mouths flew open I'd pull the trigger and man, who knew which direction they were coming from. Next season the flash setups are there!
While I wish the adult was as sharp it does not matter so much as the babes are the focal point. Sure in a perfect world they would all have been on the same focal plane. Well done mate and thanks for sharing this moment. :)