The Swallow of the Swallow

An entry level Canon DSLR- $499
A 70-300 Tamron lens- $159
An 8 GB SD card- $20
Being in the right place at the right time- PRICELESS

I still mostly contend that getting a good picture is all about timing. Sure...you can scout an area, and know what to expect to find. Sure...you can change setting after setting for just the right exposure. Flash or no flash? Tripod or not? So many questions and things to think about.

But, the timing.....

It was a Thursday garage sale day with my 2 sisters. We hit the dusty trail at 9 a.m., and shut them down at 5 p.m...with no lunch, and no potty stops. WE DON"T NEED NO STINKIN BREAKS!!! Eight hours of searching through peoples garages. No breaks...but we did need some hand sanitizer. One of my sisters...not once...but twice...slopped the stuff all over her pants.

Breaking down the back of my van by items bought... My sister Lisa took up 46%. My sister Terrie had 45%. That leaves me with about 9%. Old chairs...a TV stand...cookbooks...baby toys...a coffee table...and a big "Please be careful with that" mirror. Twice, we had to take a few minutes to re-arrange to get more crap stuff in.

In our next-to-last stop...I tawt I heard a puddy-tat. It wasn't a puddy-tat. It was some baby birds. It was a nest of...I think...barn swallows...who...I guess couldn't find a suitable barn to live in. They chose a front porch instead. The mother swallow was super-fast. Only got a few shots with her in the shot. 5 little ones in the nest. I kept trying to get them with their mouths open. Whenever my camera flashed...they opened up. The trouble was...then my flash had to re-boot. By then...their mouths would close. "C'mon kids...how about a little co-operation?"

I got 8-9-10 real good shots. Again the timing...I had to use the flash and the long lens. If I got too close...mom wouldn't come in. Not much time to think about settings. The right place at the right time. That's 80% of the photo battle.

Last word on timing. It wasn't good timing for the dragonflies in the babys mouth. Can you imagine hanging out on a nice big green leaf... being swept up by a blur of a bird....and then end up in the mouth of an ugly little creature like this? Nature.

Thank you for all of the favourites from yesterday. Somebody explain to me how you favourite someones foto. Do you have to be a member? How many times can you use it in a day or a week? So many questions....