Ok, whoever started this swallow thing owes me a tylenol

Civchic · May 24, 2014

Danny? Kris? It was one of you. LOL. I found some swallow nest boxes yesterday afternoon and killed my battery and my vision trying to catch a few of those little fighter pilot birds on camera. Wow! Also, I need more megapixels for cropping on these tiny things.

#1

may 23 coming into roost by civgirlca, on Flickr

#2

may 23 liftoff by civgirlca, on Flickr

#3

may 23 swallow flying by civgirlca, on Flickr

nzmacro · May 24, 2014

It was Kris, maybe Bill, maybe Mike .... ahhh it might have been Lee (where is he BTW) Not me anyway, never taken a shot of Swallows, that's for nutters

Looking pretty darn good there Mel and good in flights. Hard huh and you need to shoot wide and crop as you already know. Not easy and well done from what I see. If and its a big IF, you want to get serious about them, try every chance you get and each time, just move 1 meter (3 feet) forward each time. These get use to you real quick and you will get close to them. Great to have them flying just over your head and around you only a few feet off, just love it !! Get them in decent sunlight with the sun at your back and bang, there you go.

All the best Mel, nice going.

Danny.

Designer · May 24, 2014

Tree swallows are not overly concerned about humans.

I used to visit the barn swallows in our barn. The young ones would watch me back, looking over the edge of their nest.

BillM · May 24, 2014

I gave up trying to get those shots awhile back. Now I just wait till they land then take their picture, and even then they are hard to get LOL

manaheim · May 24, 2014

heh. I was just dive bombed by a pack of these little guys when I was visiting a local barn to pick up my daughter. I was like "Holy CRAP those dudes are fast." Didn't even occur to me how hard it would be to shoot them, but it makes sense.

You birders are outta yer friggin' minds. :lol:

IzzieK · May 24, 2014

I love all of them, Mel...but #1 comes up trump for me for the composition and the story...

LarryLomona · May 24, 2014

Lovely capture.Beautiful!

Civchic · May 25, 2014

Thank you all! They definitely weren't shy, kept buzzing right by me, but I never was able to get them in focus when they're so close and full speed. When they're near the nest boxes they sort of hover and slow way down, it's the only way I could do it. But what a challenge! I sure will try again.

sm4him · May 25, 2014

manaheim said:
heh. I was just dive bombed by a pack of these little guys when I was visiting a local barn to pick up my daughter. I was like "Holy CRAP those dudes are fast." Didn't even occur to me how hard it would be to shoot them, but it makes sense.

You birders are outta yer friggin' minds.

It's not JUST that they're fast, they're so unpredictable. They swoop and swerve, and as soon as you THINK you've about locked focus on one, it zigs when you zag and it's gone forever.

Trying to shoot swallows results in the need for something MUCH stronger than Tylenol, imo.
And yet, I'm thinking I may just head out tomorrow for another attempt at it myself.
I like to think of myself as strong-willed and determined...but I think "out of my friggin' mind" is far closer to the truth. :lmao:

DarkShadow · May 25, 2014

Need more then Tylenol but maybe something for motion sickness. Suckers turn on a dime and unfortunately my body does not.

nzmacro · May 25, 2014

sm4him said:
manaheim said:

heh. I was just dive bombed by a pack of these little guys when I was visiting a local barn to pick up my daughter. I was like "Holy CRAP those dudes are fast." Didn't even occur to me how hard it would be to shoot them, but it makes sense.

You birders are outta yer friggin' minds.

Click to expand...

It's not JUST that they're fast, they're so unpredictable. They swoop and swerve, and as soon as you THINK you've about locked focus on one, it zigs when you zag and it's gone forever.

Trying to shoot swallows results in the need for something MUCH stronger than Tylenol, imo.
And yet, I'm thinking I may just head out tomorrow for another attempt at it myself.
I like to think of myself as strong-willed and determined...but I think "out of my friggin' mind" is far closer to the truth. :lmao:

LOL Sharon, you have a way with descriptions that are bang on the money

Mine are all out in the wop wops, I would love to find a place they call home, I would be there for hours. Generally its always around small streams or rivers.

All the best and looking forward to more when you can Mel.

Danny.