As we went over the bridge at Hidden Lake we saw lots of swallows flying low over the water. Mostly Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows with an occasional Barn Swallow mixed in. I wanted to get a picture of them in flight but it is practically impossible to focus on them as they weave back and forth, up and down over the stream. So I did an experiment. I found a place to shoot where they tended to bank or turn. I then focused on a branch nearby to get the approximate distance. I then held the camera away from my face and just manually aimed the camera toward the location I focused on. Every time a swallow came near that spot I began to shoot. I couldn’t tell if I was getting anything or not on site so I loaded all the pictures onto my computer at home and searched each frame for a bird. I took 232 frames and 3 of the images were fair and this one turned out pretty good. It was an interesting exercise and I think I’ll try it again to see if I’m more successful.
- Created Timestamp05/05/2020 13:52:55
- CameraCanon EOS 7D Mark II
- Aperture8
- Focal Length400
- Iso10000
- Shutter Speed1/1600
Great shot! My eyes were somehow to the water droplet just under the birds wing. Interesting!
1 out of 200 is about right for me even while exercising full focus … this is an amazing pic ..
That’s a very good shot for such a tough bird to get in flight. It’s important to experiment and find out what works and what does not. I was trying for a similar in flight shot by using my Sony tracking system locked on a perched bird and then waiting for him to take off. The tracking system would keep the bird focused for a wing beat or two before he left the frame. My results were mixed since I had a hard time anticipating which direction the bird would go. But, like you I got maybe one or two… Read more »