Awesom capture Pieter. Love the comp. Looks like a halo around bird (perhaps from s/h). Agree with contrast/sat boost on swallow. Very well done.
TFS
Todd
Great posture and light Pieter! I use a minimum shutter speed of 1/3200 for small fast species, even 1/4000 for very fast guys like this, it helps to maintain critical sharpness
Hi Pieter, repost looks much better. Fantastic timing to capture this very fast character. Good angled take off posture, and I like your smooth BG. Well captured.
Thanks Chris and Stuart for your comments. Thanks also for the advice Chris much appreciated. I must say I was amazed at the amount of wing blur in my previous post of a Barn Swallow which was taken at 1/3200.
Fantastic Pieter, well done these guys are not easy. i like the comp and incoming angle. The re-post is alot better but not sure I like the halo S/H around the birds tail.
I'd crop this fine shot so that the swallow is a bit smaller, because at this size the slight blur on the wings and head is noticeable. Chris makes a useful comment about SS. Good job with a very challenging subject.
Thank you Vivaldo and Craig for your kind comments. Craig great suggestion will process a smaller version for myself from the RAW file and also try to get rid of the dreaded halo at the same time.