Male Violet-green Swallow Feeding Youngster

Image Critiques Everything Else Critiques
1

I was walking back to the house from my blind the other day when I saw lots of feeding activity at this box mounted above the back of our pump house. Since these swallows are very used to us, I set up nearby, went to f/11 and raised the iso to get a half-way decent shutter speed, then fired away whenever I saw the youngsters start to gape. I managed to get a couple of acceptable images, of which this is the best. The white on the adult was more strongly lit that the rest, so there were considerable adjustments in post processing.

-20200704-_7D25358-Home-Edit
-20200704-_7D25358-Home-Edit1600×1094 867 KB

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Anything.

Any pertinent technical details:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 484 mm tripod with ball head and Sidekick mount, f/11, 1/1000 (a bit more shutter speed would have helped), iso 2000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Noise reduction with Neat Image, feather detail enhancement with Topaz Detail 3. Lots of adjustments to local exposure. The adult was against an almost white background, so I painted in some color from the rest of the image. Taken at 2:38 pm on July 4th.

If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.
1 Like
2

A difficult shot you handled nicely, Dennis. Good reflexes!

Best,
Terry

3

Wow, nice capture Dennis.

4

An excellent interaction shot; well timed.

5

Hi Dennis, love these gorgeous swallows and this is a wonderful interaction you have captured. Post processing looks good to me. I see what you mean about faster shutter speed but this is still a very effective image IMO.