![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/barn-swallow-7560b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-swallow-7560b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nYesterday it was Cliff Swallows. To continue the swallow theme, today it’s Barn Swallows playing in the mud.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f.6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Just over a week ago I spent some time photographing Barn Swallows collecting mud for their nests on Antelope Island. I’m not sure where their nests\u00a0were but they were probably on the sides of some nearby buildings. This bird is looking at the exact spot from where it’s about to collect a bill-full of mud and has raised its wings to fly-hop over to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f.6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Here it has grabbed the mud and is about to take off with it. Notice the double catch light in the eye – that sometimes happens, especially\u00a0near water. I could easily remove the bottom one but it’s natural so I left it. It doesn’t really bother me anyway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f.6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Barn Swallows often mix mud with grass for their nests and this one spent considerable time with the grass stem in its mouth before it picked up the mud, as if it was trying to decide how\u00a0it would manage with\u00a0both of them in its beak. Interestingly, closely related Cliff Swallows mix\u00a0grass with the mud much less often than Barn Swallows do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f.6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This is a different bird taking off with its mouth full of mud. I think it’s an interesting\u00a0shot at this angle, featuring that long, deeply forked tail, a full wing-spread, the shadows of its spread feet and even the reflection of one of them.<\/p>\n After I processed this\u00a0photo last night I began to wish I hadn’t\u00a0cropped\u00a0out\u00a0part of the\u00a0shadow of\u00a0the right wing and wonder if I’d prefer the image if the shadow was complete. So as I often do behind the scenes when I’m preparing my images for posting I processed another version that included the entire shadow to see if I’d like it better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is it but personally I don’t like it quite as well. Yes, it includes the entire shadow but the price to pay is too large because for me the composition is less appealing and I’ve lost detail on the bird because of the looser crop.<\/p>\n But what do I know? Aesthetics certainly isn’t my long suit so if any of my readers have thoughts on the matter one way or the other\u00a0I’d appreciate knowing them.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Note: If my narrative is less coherent than usual this morning it’s because I’m in the fog of one of my nasty cluster headaches. Usually I have them in the middle of the night but this one has thrown me a curve.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday it was Cliff Swallows. To continue the swallow theme, today it’s Barn Swallows playing in the mud.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/barn-swallow-7586b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-swallow-7586b-ron-dudley\\"")
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