1000s of swallows and not one in focus :(

[Busted Knuckles]

Well there were several but too far away to be of interest.

For some reason the east side of Lake Toho just south of Orlando is home to a over sized flock of swallows - there may be an insect hatch or something - none the less there are literally thousands - trying to track them was pretty darn funny - talk about zigging vs. zagging

I started w/ the 70-200 and I am thinking that it was too long. I was able to "walk in" to them and there were well within a few feet and certainly several were inches when flying by. It was kind of neat experience even if I didn't a single shot. I am going to try again next weekend - perhaps a movie so that the experience can be shared.

I am thinking of going f16, super fast shutter speed, etc.

Any other thoughts??

[andnowimbroke]

F5.6 would be a minimum but F6-8 would give you more playroom. The 70-200 Lens worked fine for me. I would wear head gear for the amount of poop you'll encounter as you move closer. Flash isn't necessary depending where the sun is at, but if you want to kiss the underside of them, a betterbeamer would come in handy.

[erno james]

i just did a google image search for 'motion blur flocks of birds' and found some pretty dazzling shots. don't worry if your image isn't tack sharp since you could try for an artsy motion blur image to capture the large flock. please post some keepers. happy shooting, erno