Barn Swallow Flying Home

Barn swallow. i was practicing yesterday.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Thanks for looking.

Thanks, Rashed and Monte.

Monte, I think you must be right about photographing swallows and bats: very erratic flight so it's hard to track them or anticipate where they're going, unless you're at a nest (swallows -- I've never tried to photograph bats; I don't think they are very common around northern Chicago suburbs).

I wish I could get these guys in focus and filling more of the frame. Also, I'd like a more interesting background than this water. But when they fly past trees or just about anything else, I lose focus. hard enough to keep the central focus point on these guys.

When I use my 400 f/5.6, I find it's very hard to find them in the viewfinder and then to track them keeping them in focus is really tough. These shots are really just the result of luck and taking a lot of shots. I get a keeper rate of about 1 in 25, I think. I wish I had your skills.

I'd appreciate any tips or advice you can offer. Thanks for commenting.