Andorinha-dáurica

Pedro's photos of H.daurica collecting mud are excellent (I.Q., colour and detail could not be better), but photographing them "in flight" is not quite so easy!!!









All with Canon 1DMk3 and 400mm f/5.6 "hand held" and all are 50%+ crops.

Colin

Absolutely true Colin

Your photos are Very Good!

1 Abraço,
Pedro

PS: In the day I took my photos, I only manage to get one great picture (for me the best of all) of a daurica taking off .... but I cut it (the tip of the wings)

Wow, Colin, these pictures are superb!!!!!

1 abraço,
Gonçalo

Thank you Pedro and Gonçalo.

Shooting hirundines and swifts "in flight" is an enormous challenge - these birds fly very fast and are unpredictable (they can turn 90º in a millisecond), so actually "tracking" them in AI Servo mode is out of the question. I had all 45 AF points enabled, was shooting at 10 fps, and used the "spray and pray" technique! 99% (or more) of the shots are rubbish.

As Pedro says, the annoying part is that some of the best images (in terms of sharpness, etc.) always have a wing-tip or tail-streamer cut off. In many of my shots there was no bird at all, just blue sky!!

Here is another "hand held" shot from three years ago:



*(Crappy Panasonic P&S camera).


These birds breed at my house, and this juvenile kept falling from the nest before he could fly properly.

Colin