Swallows

[icassell]

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallows

 

[LaFoto]

How come all those birds pose for you like this?
How do you bribe them?
What do you bring for them??

And what lens do you use to get this close?
The first is not quite as sharp as you would have hoped for (and it is a bit bright), did you use a teleconverter here?

 

[gwenwon]

How could you come across so many lovely creatures?
They are great indeed.

 

[icassell]

LOL

I recently added a Canon EF 400mm USM f/5.6L to my armory and I am in love with it. It is very sharp even wide open, light enough to easily handhold, and has super-fast AF. It is considered by many to be the best lens made for birds-in-flight (although I am just now learning how to use it).

Unfortunately swallows are tiny and fidgety and hard to get to stand still. The barn swallow is a significant crop of an image taken in poor light, so my hanholding suffered.

As for where -- I just keep my eyes open and frequent bird sanctuaries (in the Phoenix area I like the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the Gilbert Riperian Reserve and in New Jersey, where I have a shore house, I went to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge).

Here's another barn swallow: