Dusky Woodswallow
A Dusky Woodswallow in full flight
A Dusky Woodswallow in full flight
Read less
Read less
OLYMPUS E-M1X
Aperture f/8 ISO 640 Shutter 1/800 Focal Length 600/1 
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, AU
Sep, 2021Views
157
Likes
Awards
Curator's Selection
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 2Top 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
![Two male black-veined white butterflies [Aporia crataegi] roosting on a Carthusian pink. by HenrikSpranz](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2024/01/17/102725792_widepreview400.webp)
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was captured in the Majura grasslands adjacent to CampbellPark Woodland in the Australian Capital TerritoryTime
It was captured at 11.30am with the sun almost overhead but over my left shoulder.Lighting
The light hit the bird well giving me a good catch light in the eye and bringing out the plumage detail. With sufficient distance to the background the bokeh is also lit well giving it a soft appearance to match the bird well.Equipment
This was shot on my birding kit of OM EM1X with the OM 300mm pro prime +MC-20 teleconverter. It was handheld.Inspiration
I had seen similar images by other great bird photographers and was inspired to try for it myself. I noticed a flock of these Swallows using the weed flower spikes to launch off while catching insects and waited my chance for take off and landing shots using burst mode and a fast shutter speed.Editing
My post workflow was as follows: Processed in DXOPureRaw to sharpen and remove noise then in Adobe Camera Raw with Adobe Colour Profile Auto was tweaked to personal taste. In Photoshop cropped and a subtle vignette applied using a curves layer and brush.In my camera bag
Normally for Bird and wildlife photography I have my OM Solutions EM1X and 300mm prime in the bag. In addition I carry two MC converters - the 1.4x and the 2x. I also carry a zoom which is the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm in case the prime puts me too close to the subject and this gives me more flexibility. I always have my Olympus on camera flash in the bag and will use it for fill flash when the subject is in shadow or where I have an overly bright sky - it does a very good job when I set the flash power at -3 and them adjust the exposure meter for the subject and let the background blow out. This can produce some very nice high key images.Feedback
Firstly shoot Raw and use Manual settings. Do not expect to capture images like this in any auto mode. To capture an image like this first you must study the bird's behaviour. Study where is takes off from and where it lands - they repeat their behaviour. Your camera setting should be in burst mode of around 10fps and the shutter speed at at least 1/500s or better - preferably 800 fps or greater. You may need to set your ISO quite high to get this shutter speed. If noise is a problem don't worry - still shoot and use DXOPureRaw in post which will clean up even the noisiest of images. If you want the wings to be crisp then set at 1/2,000s. Your aperture can be what you prefer for a reasonable depth of field but I suggest f/5.6 to about f/8 is good. Then prefocus on the branch or seed head and await the next opportunity - as the bird lands fire away until it sits still. When its about to take off again fire away until its gone. Then you need to check to see if you got as least one image in focus with the eye sharp. You must always aim for a sharp eye. If you missed it then keep trying and practicing until you nail it! And you will!
