DSLR Photography Forum

At long last, I got a shot of a swallow in full flight. This is probably the best I can get without buying specialised gear. It's a crop, not a downsized picture. I discarded more than 100 shots. Oh well.

They were flying very low over a meadow, sometimes passing quite close. I should have gotten a closer shot, but they were way too fast. Getting them into the frame was already difficult, focussing properly was impossible. This one I got by sheer luck, really.

Like most people, I hate simple responses.

Unfortunately, what springs to mind here though is:


Woooooo!!!!!!

Ps.

That's a good Woooo! Not a bad Woooo!

Great capture. I was dealing with the same issues trying to photograph 4 dragon flies that were wizzing around my back yard last week. I spent about a half our and a 100 or so shots. I found that it was easiest to set the camera to manual focus and just shoot when I felt they were in range and in the frame. I got a few that came out ok but really not that interesting.

I must say upon looking at the image again, what an incredible bird. Simply amazing!

You might be interested to see some pix from another board where I'm subscribed. The person who posted the pix has a special license for photographing protected birds, protected nests and he's also imnvolved with wildlife conservation - and a semi-pro who sometimes sells his bird pix. He spends a lot of time researching, setting up and works and waits for ages (days, weeks) to get the sort of shots he's after.

He's helped and advised me on several matters, including choice of 500mm lens, how to make my own cable switch extension .. and I'm a fan of his dedication and his work

I hope you can all access the link as it's a board owned and operated by a uk ISP. You can't post there unless you're subscribed, but you should be able to read the messages.

Here's the link. and the photographer/poster is Mick Johnson.

Polly

guerito Wrote:At long last, I got a shot of a swallow in full flight. This is probably the best I can get without buying specialised gear. It's a crop, not a downsized picture. I discarded more than 100 shots. Oh well.

They were flying very low over a meadow, sometimes passing quite close. I should have gotten a closer shot, but they were way too fast. Getting them into the frame was already difficult, focussing properly was impossible. This one I got by sheer luck, really.

[]

Cracking good shot though!

I haven't managed to get a shot of a Swallow at all yet. :/

Polly

Guerito,

great capture..........if they are anything like ours here (duh) they fly low and fast and erratic. 1 in 100, mate I reckon thats going good.

cheers

Thanks guys and gals! Your comments really are encouraging!

WOW what a great capture,i know how hard it is to photograph these birds you did well.
Seeing the wingspan of this bird reminds me of the WW2 Spitfire. Once again great photo.