Swallows ready to swallow

[Markvetnz]

I was lucky enough to see a pair of Welcome Swallows feeding their young today. I got a few half decent pics.
This is the first time I have ever managed to catch a swallow in flight and in focus!

[kezmal]

Mark I am in awe, they are amazing photos. Absolutely stunning!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

That's fantastic Mark! I had the opportunity to get similar shots a few weeks ago but it was too dark and my lens was too slow to get anything decent. You've managed to get some amazing photos!

[jstp]

Hey Mark,
They are fantastic shots. I have always found swallows way to fast for me.

Cheers

[Craig3070]

Absolutely stunning. Congratulations. Some of the best photos of birds I have ever seen!

[Bobobird]

Gorgeous shots.

I am pretty sure that they will do well in any NG comp.

Can you tell us how you got these shots? As Malcolm said in a previous post, it is not as if they have nests in bright easily photographed places.

[Bobobird]

Hey Mark,
They are fantastic shots. I have always found swallows way to fast for me.

Cheers

In flight yes, but around their nests it is not impossible as Mark has shown.

Here is one but it is not even close to what Mark has achieved.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...10530-0002.jpg

(Taken with a borrowed film camera and scanned to digital)

[Dave Humphries]

I agree with the others Mark,

If this is your "half decent", I'd better give up

Amazing; composition, focus, shutterspeed, DoF, exposure, the list goes on

Well done,

[gurvinder77]

Wonderful photographs Mark!!
awesome... :-)

[ScoutR]

OMG Mark, WOW!!! These are all amazing. Please post EXIF. Did you use flash????

Wendy

[Steve S]

Beautiful work , mark. A very though bird to capture in flight.

[jeeperman]

Very nicely done Mark! Wonderful captures all of them.

[gaelicsea]

Mark, these are fantastic! Any shots from a distance to show how on earth you captured these images? I can only dream of taking such shots. Stunning!

[jprzybyla]

Hi Mark, I envy your oppurtunity...wonderful photographs.

[Fit]

Brilliant!

[annie5154]

Stunning Mark ... thank you for sharing. Well done for getting such interesting shots.

[Stinky]

Awesome

[Markvetnz]

All photos taken with a Canon 1D mark iv. Lens Canon 400mm f2.8 with a 2xTC. I was approximately 10 to 15 meters away. At times well within 10 meters. Iso ranged from 100 to 800 depending on what shutter speed I was trying to get. Shutter speed varied from 1/320 to 1/1000. The best shots were at f8.0 and f11.0. DOF was too shallow at 5.6.

I've done a lot of bird photography recently. Recipe for success as follows
1. Know your subject and its habits and be PATIENT!!
2. Don't use you lowest f stop - you will end up with many out of focus birds.
3. For flying birds I try to get as close to 1/500 as possible. In most cases this still gives a little wing blur.
4. A LOT OF IT IS PURE LUCK - but you can help to make your own luck.

All this happened within 30 feet of my back door. The clutch of chicks (up to 5 at a time) was perched on my TV dish and the whole lot just sat there in bright sunshine for about 30 minutes. Like I said - pure luck to be there at the right time.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Like I said - pure luck to be there at the right time.

In golf, luck beats skill every time

[DanK]

Truly superb! Wonderful images.