Little Wings

[Brownbear]

My first attempt at photographing Tree Swallows. Delightful and very pretty little acrobatic birds whose flight patterns seem to have no rhyme or reason. The exposure was also a little challenging because of their colouring. They fly a little too fast for my skills, however I intend to try again on the first sunny morning, and likely several more times.

For now I'm just pleased that I managed to capture them in flight. On my next attempt I will try to get a few shots with them flying into the frame and to fill the frame. All of these are cropped 50-75%.

SS 2500-3200 300 mm focal length Aperture f4 and f 6.7 with a 1.7 extender on my lens.

Auto ISO set to a max of 640-1600 (set to a max of 800 or 1600 (image 3) depending on the direction of the light)

1.




2.





3.




4.



Note... even though the background is blurry it is still a little distracting.


5. My first attempt at Bird Art... Two images merged into one - trying to fill the frame.





C&C always appreciated.

[Gigi71]

Fantastic images, I like #3 best. Really well done, Christina!

[Shadowman]

Very nice, all of them. It would be interesting if you could get all five in one composite, or maybe just the 1st, 2nd, and 5th image.

[rtbaum]

#3 does it for me, but I've always been somewhat contrary.

[Brownbear]

Thanks everyone. I think I like #1 and #2 the best. #1 if I could see the face of the bird and #2 if I hadn't clipped the wing.
And #5 if I could've filled the frame more.

Randy... I love the wing position in the 3rd image, and I am going to try for something like this again. In which case it would be my favourite.

John... For a first try combining two images was challenging enough to do, but for sure I will keep in mind for future.

[John 2]

1,2 and 4 for me Christina. Very nice set of images. If you want some idea of what you can aim for, have a look at this site. Austin Thomas is a member of one of the clubs here in the north west of England and his bird photography is something worth seeing.

http://portfolio.austin-thomas.co.uk/

[bnnrcn]

They are very nice looking birds and I like the compositions Chrisitina

[Stagecoach]

Hi Christina,

All great especially No 2 and 3. You made a good job of the composite and it looks very natural still, I love the little fella bottom left of that one.

Grahame

[Brownbear]

Thank you John, Binnur and Grahame.

John - Thank you so much for that link. Very inspiring. Almost every single image captures a moment, all with gorgeous backgrounds, light and of course all technically perfect. A site that everyone who enjoys photographing nature should view. I will keep his little bird images first and foremost in my mind for my next try.

[Brownbear]

Hi Christina,
Thank you... I love that little fella too. I think these two might have been courting, or perhaps fighting over insects in the sky that I couldn't see.


All great especially No 2 and 3. You made a good job of the composite and it looks very natural still, I love the little fella bottom left of that one.

Grahame

[John 2]

You're welcome Christina. My favourites are the Schoolmasterly Little Owls. They only need a mortar board to be perfect.

[Downrigger]

All great, Christina. To me, the fifth is a poem.

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not into bird photography, but the last one has flow; beginning with the bird on the far left, each bird's wings point to the next one to the right. Very nice composition! It is for that reason alone that I'm moved by it (though not the others).

[IzzieK]

I like #1 and 3 Christina...and as Mark said, #5 is poem...simply beautiful. For a first attempt at Tree Swallows you did very well indeed...

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for your comments and feedback. It will likely take me several tries to manage a shot that I love. If I do for sure I will post it.

John... Yes, his owls are extraordinary

Mark & Izzie... Thank you. It is nice to know that my bird art has potential.

Mike... I know. Thank you for taking the time to comment and share. Ideally I would like to capture these birds when they are mid-air like this with better light, a few shots and if so I will try another merge with flow in mind.

Thanks everyone! Truly appreciated.

[JBW]

we have their cousins in our yard. I have trouble enough following them with my eyes let alone a camera. One thing I have noticed is that they congregate in a nesting area. Find that near sundown and you could get a lot of interesting shots.

[Kyle]

Wow what great photos. I don't find the background distracting at all. The birds really stand out. They have really beautiful colour and patterns on their wings.

[DonTX]

Hi Christina,

I would have never guessed the last image was a composite. You really blended them together well, and especially got the background like it was from one image. Not that I am an expert by any means, but this image really impresses me. I look forward to seeing more of your great work.

Don

[Brownbear]

Brian, Kyle and Don - Thank you for taking the time to comment.

Brain - Yes, indeed for this set I was just happy to capture them in action. Next time around I hope to improve the compositions. I appreciate the tip on checking out the area at sunset. This is a little more challenging for me to do then sunrise because the locale is at a lake about 90 minutes from where I live and involves walking along a trail in the dark but I will just have to talk someone into coming along with me.

Kyle... It is just the background in #4 that I find a little distracting and a more apt description would be not very pretty, and only because of the dark shadowy parallel line in the background, which I think is the shoreline.

Don... Thank you. It is encouraging to hear that I did a decent job on combining two images. I hope to share some nice images this year but have no doubt during the process I will share some images that are total flops... That said I learn the most from these because everyone here is so helpful.

[Marie Hass]

Wow, WOW, WOW!!!!

These are awesome!!! I love your composite!

Marie