Swift

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Phill Luckhurst

BPN Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Messages
126
Another old shot from me, this time one of the swifts that visit our shores in spring to breed. It was raining and there was a rainbow so I tried to nail one in transit. When the swifts arrive they are so exciting, zipping around often inches away and in good numbers. They are definitely a challenging subject to photograph though as they are aptly named. Sadly, numbers in the UK have plummeted in the last 10 years. A lot is down to the rapidly falling insect mass but the main reason is they are loosing their nesting locations due to to changes in building methods. Hopefully it is not too late to turn that around. To loose the soundscape they provide on a summers evening would be a travesty.

Shot handheld with the Canon 7D2 and EF100-400II. A heavy crop though. Hopefully one day I will get the opportunity to recreate this without the need to crop so hard.

A55A9488-Edit-Edit-2.jpeg
 
Man, heavy crop or not this is a once-in-a-lifetime image! I don't think you'll get another opportunity like that :) I photographed with that same gear for so many years, I am glad to see such images still coming from it.
 
Thanks. I really enjoyed the 7D2 but wore it out in the end. The top dial begun to get unresponsive. It had done around 800K shots so I really could not complain. I switched to R bodies and fixed the 7D2 with a good dousing of contact cleaner. The 7D2 is still in use as I gave it to someone in need who is learning. She is now shooting superbike events with it.
 
Hi Phill ... love this one even if the IQ is not the greatest . The image speaks for itself and the quality is taking a step back .
Congrats to this super shot !!
Swift against a rainbow ... a dreamy image

TFS Andreas
 
Artie called it the best, an impossible shot. love that rainbow and the perfect juxtaposition of the subject right on top of it. technical issues aside the image is very striking, if the IQ was there it would likely be a contest winner (although I'd still try)

great frame
TFS
 
Beautiful frame Phil, for all the reasons stated above.

A couple small tweaks in the darkest tones could really help the subject to pop. A real gem, congrats!
 

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