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Tree Swallow
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Tree Swallow

by Dennis Plank

Gallery: AvianPosted April 3, 2014136 views8 comments
I went down to Ridgefield NWR yesterday morning and found the portion of the auto route going through the oaks full of Tree Swallows-not surprising considering the number of cavities in these oaks. There were a pair perched on this branch, but the other one was mostly out of sight in this image, so I pasted a bit of moss over what was left of it after cropping. I liked the detail in the coloration that the shaded light brought out-usually the blue is so powerful that it's difficult to see the details.

1Div, 500mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC, propped on pipe insulation over truck window. f9 (from trying to get both birds in focus before they rearranged themselves), 1/80, iso 1600, Av mode with no compensation. No adjustments to exposure or contrast, but some noise reduction and slight sharpening. Processed in CS6 + LR5. Cropped to 7.6MP from the original 16. Taken April 2nd at 7:34 am under overcast skies.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

8 comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 4, 2014 at 7:55 AM
What a great perch and background to compliment this beautiful little swallow. Excellent exposure work. I noticed a bit of a repeated pattern in the moss in the lower right corner.

Sweet Portrait Dennis :cool:
Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 4, 2014 at 10:00 AM
I love everything about this one Dennis, very nice!:toast: :toast:
Excellent post processing, the cloning nit BRC Ken mentioned is very minor & easily corrected.
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on April 4, 2014 at 1:16 PM
I know you'll fix the little nit. So, great job with a pretty bird. I like the feathery moss...it adds a nice feel to this shot :toast:
Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments
Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 4, 2014 at 2:31 PM
Nice job on the exposure Dennis, whites look good. These guys are really tough to get right. You did a great job on this one.
Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments
Comment posted by Hans Overduin on April 4, 2014 at 3:14 PM
A great way of capturing this species. The background is great in it's unusualness ! :toast: . Have a nice weekend, Hans
Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 4, 2014 at 4:43 PM
About the only way you catch one of these, Dennis. Forget anything but luck catching one in the air! Y'all be sure and fix that little cloning nit, y'hear? :biggrin:

Fantastic job on the pose, perch and BG! :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Robert Bunch on April 5, 2014 at 3:52 PM
Very nice shot. Nice pose and I really like the mossy perch and the mossy tree trunk BG. :toast:
Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments
Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on April 5, 2014 at 5:55 PM
Nice image Dennis. I actually think the f/9 worked out very well on this considering your distance (which looks to have been close), I think it was a good choice to keep it where is was.
Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments