Sand Martins

JohnC6

JohnC6

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John
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Taken last week at Poldhu Cove,Cornwall... two miles from Lizard Point.

I went to this location on the beach a few times hoping it was 'people free' because sun bathers were by the cliff face in a wind break right below the nests and it seems the Sand Martins were pooping on them..lol. It was difficult to keep the red focusing square on a bird,I thought it was loose tightening screws on the tripod but afterwards,back at the cottage, I realised the legs had been sinking in the very soft sand so I had to return but I took three squares of wood which stopped that. I think I went three times because, as you'll recall, we had great sunny weather over the past two weeks in most of the UK but strong Easterly and NE winds and these birds would return to their nests and were unable to fly into them and struggled against the winds which were buffeting them.

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Forgot to go to f8 but it gives an idea of the nesting area.
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Lovely to see them, thanks for posting :)
 
Good to see them in a total natural setting. They nest in a purpose built bank on a reserve near to me so looking forwrd to getting some shots soon

Stan
 
Many thanks all. It certainly was a delight to see such tiny birds being so active and gregarious.I think there were about 20-30 in the flock which isn't very large..from what I've read the flocks can be up to 100.

They depart late July to September so hopefully I'll get another chance next year when we return at the of May into June but last year they nested in the sandy cliffs at the next cove (Poldhu) where the holiday cottage is.
 
Excellent images, you should get some crackers when they're feeding young.
 
#1 is the sharpest of the set John but only just,not sure of your settings but these should have been pretty easy to get in focus whilst they are just sitting there.
 
Thanks Lee. Unfortunately, won't be there when the chicks hatch..we were on holiday .

Rich. Yes, number 1 only just and I'm surprised too. I thought when I posted them that they only just about made it .

I've looked at the shutter speeds for them and they should all be tack sharp.

1.1/800sec. f8.

2. 1/2000 sec f5.6

3.1/3200 sec f5.6

II can't really blame the wind because it was somewhat sheltered there,that's why people sat there and I don't recall having any problem with the wind. I do,however, recall placing one hand on the lens barrel but as I mentioned in the Feedback forum with the wren photo when the camera fires off I can actually see the lens 'jump'.It's a 1D1V too. I have no answer which is pretty frustrating, I mean, look at the last shot..I haven't included the one with all the birds flying in..but that second to last one was at 1/3200 sec.That should overcome any camera shake. Maybe the tripod was very gently sinking even on my three pieces of wood.The two tightening knobs were well tight,I checked.It's a good Manfrotto 454 'quick collapse' tripod with a Jobu wimberly-type arm also well tightened.The sand was really soft and an effort to walk on..it was more solid nearer the sea but at the back by the cliffs it was very soft. I wonder if the 10fps sec. caused the tripod to minutely move as it wasn't on a solid base ? I've taken sharp photos of birds so I don't think it's the vibration as the camera fires..10fps per se but I tend to do it in burst of 3, 4 6 anyway.

Just to add to the mystery I used a shutter cable release so I didm;'t even push down on the shutter button.

Anyway..'send you answers on a post card not later than'….Lol.
 
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#1 is the sharpest but it's at your lowest shutter speed ....... albeit at f8 when the others are at f5.6

I'd have a look at the originals of each image and determine the sharpest area ........ obviously you would have aimed to focus on the bird or the birds head ........ but you need to determine if that really happened

which focus mode did you use, John? ......... AF works on a contrast detection system and sometimes the light/shadows can fool it and it can take a little more time than usual to "lock on"......... you think that bright light is ideal but sometimes it can work against you

You had a good opportunity, they are nice images to see but they could have been better ........ sometimes I find that when you are presented with a good opportunity like this that you are so anxious to get the shots that you can forget about the basics ...... i.e. you want to fire as many shots off as you can because you think the opportunity will be lost.

any Sparrowhawks around?
 
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Hi Bill..I had to chuckle at your last paragraph. You should be a psychologist..Lol..You're spot on. Absolutely. I get very intense about it .. so much so that I'm aware of it at the time. Everything has to be right. Good in some circumstances but all too often not.

Re. the first photo the f8 is the result of having the 1.4X extender on the 400mm f5.6 lens.I'm also reduced to one centre point focusing square.

I've looked at the date I took it..the 15th. I took photos on two days..the 15th and 16th. On the first day when photo one was taken I was having problems with keeping the red focusing square on the birds..turned out it was the tripod sinking into the sand. I had to put the fp above the birds high enough to allow for the drop so it stopped on the bird..very unsatisfactory so it may well have missed.

I use Auto and on A1 Servo all the time for birds and as you correctly point out thinking that out of 7-10 shots one will be good. The recommendation is not to keep the shutter down but to do bursts of 3-5 shots so I do that.I'm wondering if that's the best strategy.

I waited until 3.15 pm for the sun to get round to shine on the cliff face.Once again thinking that more light allowed a higher shutter speed.

No, no sparrow hawks since that last one..Once again,I was too far away and had to crop heavily..taken from the bedroom window and it was about 20 metres down the garden on the fence as you'll recall. Another awful shot. Talking of awful shots..re. your wren post to Garry..I had problems with my wren shot and asked in Feedback and you replied. I've just responded to more posts about it..advice etc. so if you pop over to ..infact..here it is to save to looking for it..https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/bird-photo-problems.586910/

I've just read your second reply in Gary's wren thread and as usual in Email,forums etc. things get misunderstood somewhat.For this reason I don't use Email for chatting,not on Twitter ,not on FB. No need to go over it but as I mentioned in my exchange with you I did realise and say that I appreciated you weren't criticising the actual wren.. it was all about the bg etc.

Never mind..we'll march on. Thanks for your response to these photos too.
 
[QUOTE="JohnC6, post: 6847390, member: 19786"
I've just read your second reply in Gary's wren thread and as usual in Email,forums etc. things get misunderstood somewhat.For this reason I don't use Email for chatting,not on Twitter ,not on FB. No need to go over it but as I mentioned in my exchange with you I did realise and say that I appreciated you weren't criticising the actual wren.. it was all about the bg etc.

Never mind..we'll march on. Thanks for your response to these photos too.[/QUOTE]

Don't worry John, I always get mis-understoud ........... reminds me of a song
 
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