Cliff Swallows

There was a flock of about eight Cliff Swallows taking mud from the pond to a nearby barn. I must have taken several dozen shots of their action at different settings and this was the best I could do and it still required a fair amount of post-processing to get this result.

What technical feedback would you like if any? Any

What artistic feedback would you like if any? The bird in the back is not ideal, but at least the eye is showing.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Canon 7DII; Sigma 150-600 at 600 mm 1/1640;f7.1; ISO 500

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

Hi Allen. Is the shutter speed a typo? It looks like you meant 1/640. The saturation looks a little high to my eye. I’m not used to them being this bright. It’s a great behavior shot. We had them collecting mud from a particular place this year, but I didn’t get any decent shots of the action.I like the pose a lot. My only suggestion would be to try for an even lower angle, though it looks like you were fairly low already.

Thanks, Dennis. Yes, a typo should be 1/640. You’re right, a bit oversaturated and probably should be darker. I really had trouble getting a decent shot. The heads were too dark and I worked on the shadows in LR, but probably lightened the head too much. Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi Allen,
Nice capture showing this nesting behavior. I like seeing that big ball of mud in the beak - a unique frame. Image looks overall soft to my eyes.