#52/100 – Thirsty House Martin
Image by Rum Bucolic Ape
I must have taken 100+ shots of the swallows and house martins that used our pool as a source of water. All bar about 5 are completely useless. I present you with the best, IHMO
I almost gave up trying to get a reasonable shot – you are standing 20 feet away trying to photograph a 5 inch bird travelling at around 25 mph with a 450mm lens.
Even at 5 fps, it is very difficult to catch the action as they dip into the water – you might catch about 2-3 shots as they zip past.
Even more interestingly, when frozen at 1/800th second, both the swallows and martins would vary from dipping their heads daintily into the water to take a drink to a full-on near dunking (like this fella here).
Normally I’m an embarrassingly fair-weather photographer. Any signs of adversity or difficultly and I run away. Quite pleased I persevered and got a few decent snaps.
