First Flights Are Scarey Photo

Photographer’s Note

I also thought of naming this 'Oh Sh_t!!' This young swallow flew about a foot (.3 M) across and six inches (21 cm) down before clinging in terror to the doorsill. His sibling watched in smug comfort from the nest as the parents flew sweeps past their terror-striken baby. He clung to this edge for at least 2 hours but several hours later, all four of the birds were gone.

scobert, JoseMiguel, feather, polter, pboehringer, jwmunro, ALIRIZA, gunbud, edytungkal, xuaxo, ktanska, Emile, jmcl, bakes888 has marked this note useful

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JoseMiguel (860) 2007-09-04 7:48

Hi Pat,
Yes, first times usually are hard to handle!
And this young swallow seems that hardly made it, but is doing its best to stay safe up there.
I like the lighting here and the composition made with the forms and colours.
Well done and thanks for share it.
My best regards,
JM

feather (50144) 2007-09-04 8:12

Ah! Bless! This is an excellent capture of the fledgling. No doubt if he was more confident he would be long gone before you lifted your camera to your eye. He looks very precarious and he certainly has his eye on you. The diagonal composition works very well here Pat adding more drama to the situation.
Kath

sreeharig (199) 2007-09-04 9:37

Beautiful capture, although I'm sure the bird was in one of the most uncomfortable positions it can ever be in.

polter (6168) 2007-09-04 9:48

Great :)). What a gaze and what an evident determination of this little, feathered body ! Lovely portrait - as there is something human like in this little birdie. Wonderful photo. Greetings T.

pboehringer (770) 2007-09-04 10:36

Pat, that is certainly not the moment where young swallow would have appreciated you saying "cheese". It looks dead scared and some thoughts like "how do I get out of this mess?", "what know?", "can it get worse?" or "what is she doing?" must have crossed its mind. Quite astonishing to see such a good quality coming ou of a 200mm and ISO 800.
Good oportune moment!
Regards, Peter

jwmunro (6255) 2007-09-04 11:53

Hello Pat -

Well done! This guy sure does look a bit on the scared side. In PP did you try to open the shadows a bit? I've added a WS to open the shadow on the birds breast and wings.

Thank you for sharing.

John

[workshop] [compare]

ALIRIZA (16197) 2007-09-04 12:44

Hi Pat,
An excellent POV and lovely shot. The composition, colours and the details are wonderful. Well done my friend...
Ali Rıza

Gerrit (36269) 2007-09-04 15:00

Hi Pat,
There is something strange with our feelings for animals. When we can see them as if they were human, scarey - so obvious as here is hard to find - for instance or clumsy - we will find them cute.
You did a wonderful job to catch the moment and feelable emotion.
Regards, Gerrit

gunbud (28161) 2007-09-04 18:06

Hi Pat,
Great angle to catch this fledgling as he tenasiously clings to this precarious perch. He is seen in clear color and exact details.
Regards, Tom

edytungkal (4519) 2007-09-04 20:15

Hi Pat,
Honestly i can't imagine this picture on the thumbnails, but after opened it, i think this picture is interesting. I like how the swallow's eye still looking at you with his sharp eye. Nice cropping and framing, thanks :-)

daniel

xuaxo (5835) 2007-09-06 10:35

Olá Pat,
Cool picture of this young fellow. You got it in a very interesting moment.
SAA. F.

Angshu (34099) 2007-09-07 1:12

Hi Pat
It looks so vulnerable! What a lovely capture with the diagonal of the doorsill working so well. Wonder what was going on in it's terrified mind? "Look at me & look at her" might have crossed at mind. With a high zoom, the quality is excellent!
Best Regards
Angshu

ktanska (16695) 2007-09-07 4:59

Hi Pat,
You say it all on your note. We all have experiences of trying new things for the first time. Well caught expression. Good harmonous colours. I'd suggest to add this to 'Decisive moment' category.
Kari

xavis (3176) 2007-09-07 8:28

Hola,
great portrait of this bird. I can see the terror in his eyes, ;-).
I like a lot the result of the WS, I think that improves well your picture, and gives more contrast betwen the bird and the background.
Best regards,

Javier

Emile (20125) 2007-09-07 21:12

Hola Pat.
A tender shot with the mother taking care of the young after his first fly. Very well captured, good light and colors contrast. perfect sharpness. Very good POV and DOF.
Well done. TFS.
Best regards.

jmcl (14149) 2007-09-09 18:07

Hi Pat,

Wonderfully seen .. Wonderfully done .. great image .. I love the colors .. the moment .. but especially the face.

take care.

John

bakes888 (18353) 2007-09-23 22:58

Hi Pat. We have these same wee birds at our house and yes they’re welcome even though they make a mess of the place ;). Excellent capture. Good colour and detail. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

scobert (5333) 2008-02-10 14:51

Hello Pat,
Very observant catch and I can sure feel the terror of this chick looking down at what must appear to be an endless abyss below. Many times mother birds kick their offsrping out of the nests to force them to fly. This young bird probably got himself into this predicament. I used to drop off what appeared to be abandoned chicklets to volunteer bird rescue people until they reminded me that these birds were kicked out of the nest by the mothers. Now I only drop off injured birds. Good photo!
Stan