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Barn Swallow Drama
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Barn Swallow Drama

by Patrick O'Healy

Gallery: AvianPosted June 28, 2013161 views11 comments
June 22, 2013 at Bolsa Chica Nature Preserve, Huntington Beach, California. As I was walking back toward the wooden bridge, I saw this pair of Barn Swallows on the barbed wire fence. I set my tripod and camera down and began to photograph the one on the right. In the middle of our session, the bird on the left went on the attack.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm lens ISO640 1/1600 f/8 white balance auto tripod with Wimberley cropped and processed in Lightroom, CS6 and NIK

Comments welcome

Comments

11 comments
Comment posted by John Neukirch on June 28, 2013 at 10:00 PM
Exceptional action shot, tack sharp, exposed well in wonderful light. Nice that you have catch light in both eyes. A wonderful image the say the least, they may move it to man & nature though because of the barbed wire.
Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments
Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on June 28, 2013 at 11:22 PM
Wow! You caught a great interaction here! Good exposure and the centered comp works ok for this. The barbed wire is fine by me...Sharon
Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments
Comment posted by Martin Dunn on June 29, 2013 at 2:54 AM
Lovely action shot Patrick. With the larger birds it is not so tough but with these tlittle guys that move so fast it is very well done.
There's a marvellous warm/golden sheen to the whole image from the terrific light you had. Great sharpness too. :toast:
Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments
Comment posted by Claude Dagenais on June 29, 2013 at 6:37 AM
Great action on these fast movers Patrick. :toast:
Registered on April 10, 2013, 56 Posts, 571 Comments
Comment posted by Keith Bauer on June 29, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Patrick: I like this very much. The moment is great with the lower bird looking up, I like the diagonal of the barbed wire. (And no it won't be moved to Man and Nature - we have man made perches in a lot of images) Nice image :toast:
Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on June 29, 2013 at 7:24 PM
Excellent, Patrick. A great moment, well captured.

:toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on June 30, 2013 at 3:13 PM
Excellent image Patrick, love both the interaction and the lighting :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by May Haga on July 1, 2013 at 9:04 AM
Amazing action Patrick. Both birds are sharp.
May
Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments
Comment posted by LeRoy Gunderson on July 1, 2013 at 9:06 AM
Wow! Amazing shot. Very sharp and well exposed.
Registered on December 14, 2004, 27 Posts, 112 Comments
Comment posted by John Tobias on July 1, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Great action capture! Nice color, light and details. These are hard guys to get good action shots of, at least for me, and you have done well :jump:
Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments
Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on July 2, 2013 at 1:58 PM
Amazing action shot, Patrick. I like the facial expression of both birds and the body posture. Well exposed and sharp details.
Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments