Swallows Chasing Insects

Swallows are one of my favourite subjects to shoot, especially as they are hunting for insects. They are erratic and extremely fast, but very rewarding subjects when you do snap them in action.

The majority of these photographs were taken in June last year when I spent a few mornings visiting a lake where they liked to hunt. I was experimenting a little with my settings, but if the light was good I was shooting at between 1/4000 - 1/8000sec. All shots were taken with a circular polarising filter as well.

Here is the shot I was trying to make - the angle of the bird, the proximity of the insect, and the lighting all came together here. Unfortunately it's a heavy crop so some detail is lost, but the birds are quite small and I can only zoom in so far:

In this one you have to look closely, the bug is almost inside it's mouth. If the shutter had fired a fraction of a second earlier, this would have been a nice shot.

This one would be my favourite of the bunch, but the insect is just too far away and barely registers in the photograph. A fraction of a second later and this would have been a winning shot I think.

This one would have been a good one, but the Swallow was just too far away and the crop is too aggressive.

An excellent series of images, well done

Steve these really are amazing. I watch ours screaming about and particularly over our dam and wonder how ever anyone can capture there flight.
Love them all.

stevejack wrote in post #19453448
Swallows are one of my favourite subjects to shoot, especially as they are hunting for insects. They are erratic and extremely fast, but very rewarding subjects when you do snap them in action.

The majority of these photographs were taken in June last year when I spent a few mornings visiting a lake where they liked to hunt. I was experimenting a little with my settings, but if the light was good I was shooting at between 1/4000 - 1/8000sec. All shots were taken with a circular polarising filter as well.

Unfortunately it's a heavy crop so some detail is lost, but the birds are quite small and I can only zoom in so far

GREAT SHOTS. I love sparrows too. Had a similar experience in the spring when midges were erupting out of the water on a small pond. There were 40ish birds feeding and 2 or 3 simultaneously making a pass at them low over the pond. Unfortunately the light was mostly overcast both days of the hatch. Some of my better shots on my Flickr if you're interested. So cool. Hoping to get it again this coming spring.

Question: why a polarizer?

ST-EOS wrote in post #19453470
An excellent series of images, well done

Thanks Peter, much appreciated.

avondale87 wrote in post #19453481
Steve these really are amazing. I watch ours screaming about and particularly over our dam and wonder how ever anyone can capture there flight.
Love them all.

Thank you, they are a massive challenge for sure but it's great fun when it all comes together.

downhillonwater wrote in post #19461768
GREAT SHOTS. I love sparrows too. Had a similar experience in the spring when midges were erupting out of the water on a small pond. There were 40ish birds feeding and 2 or 3 simultaneously making a pass at them low over the pond. Unfortunately the light was mostly overcast both days of the hatch. Some of my better shots on my Flickr if you're interested. So cool. Hoping to get it again this coming spring.

Question: why a polarizer?

Great shots on your Flickr! Lighting definitely makes all the difference with swallows - bright light is your friend if you can get the bird in the sun and find a nice patch of shade for your background, it helps the autofocus tremendously. I was using a polariser to try to tame the glare from the sun on the water, and to bring some saturation into the Swallow's feathers. It cuts out some light but it helps in these conditions. Everywhere is different though, I think the sun in Australia is probably particularly harsh compared to other parts of the world.

Stunning series of shots, great work!

nc_killie wrote in post #19469607
Stunning series of shots, great work!

Thank you very much,

stevejack wrote in post #19453448
Swallows are one of my favourite subjects to shoot, especially as they are hunting for insects. They are erratic and extremely fast, but very rewarding subjects when you do snap them in action.

The majority of these photographs were taken in June last year when I spent a few mornings visiting a lake where they liked to hunt. I was experimenting a little with my settings, but if the light was good I was shooting at between 1/4000 - 1/8000sec. All shots were taken with a circular polarising filter as well.

Here is the shot I was trying to make - the angle of the bird, the proximity of the insect, and the lighting all came together here. Unfortunately it's a heavy crop so some detail is lost, but the birds are quite small and I can only zoom in so far:

Hosted photo: posted by stevejack in
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forum: Birds

And in the series of shots below this, I'll post some of my other attempts which came close but didn't quite nail it for me.

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That first shot is AMAZING, congrats!

stevejack wrote in post #19453450
In this one you have to look closely, the bug is almost inside it's mouth. If the shutter had fired a fraction of a second earlier, this would have been a nice shot.

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In this one I missed focus, I think if the head was in focus the insect would be a lot clearer too.

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stevejack wrote in post #19453449

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stevejack wrote in post #19453448

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stevejack wrote in post #19453451
This one would be my favourite of the bunch, but the insect is just too far away and barely registers in the photograph. A fraction of a second later and this would have been a winning shot I think.

Hosted photo: posted by stevejack in
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forum: Birds

Hosted photo: posted by stevejack in
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stevejack wrote in post #19453453
This one would have been a good one, but the Swallow was just too far away and the crop is too aggressive.

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forum: Birds

Excellent series!

Even though you didn't quite get what you wanted you have some great shots there and I would have been very happy if I'd taken them!

I went out to a lake and a National Trust property last year and whilst I managed to capture a few house martins in flight I was disappointed with the results, so I know how hard it is! Part of my problem was that I wasn't using a fast enough shutter speed which I will remedy next time.

Chris

Chris L F wrote in post #19478881
Even though you didn't quite get what you wanted you have some great shots there and I would have been very happy if I'd taken them!

I went out to a lake and a National Trust property last year and whilst I managed to capture a few house martins in flight I was disappointed with the results, so I know how hard it is! Part of my problem was that I wasn't using a fast enough shutter speed which I will remedy next time.

Chris

Thanks Chris, yeah it's always interesting looking at the 'almost' there shots. It's great inspiration to push harder, if nothing else.

I think I was between 1/4000sec and 1/8000sec for all of these, when they're in close and moving fast I had to set it pretty high for a sharp image.