I had again the pleasure to follow an invitation of my photography friend Kevin this evening for shooting at an old barn he owns at the edge of town. The main attraction is several pairs of Barn Swallows that have their nests under the ceiling and feed their offspring. I heard the young birds when parents arrived with food, but they were obviously still too little and we couldn’t see them. The barn doors are open and the building is surrounded by meadows, grassland, and some weed patches. With other words, there is an abundance of insects and enough food for the little birds.
This location requires a lot of thinking about the light. Shooting in the barn required a flash as the main light source. With the open doors light pours in also from the outside and the question is, how can we use flash and ambient light solely or in combination for telling a story about the swallows and their summer habitat?
The first photo was shot through the open barn door. The swallow sits on an old rusty gate and the only light source is the low sitting sun. The trees behind the meadow are far away and provide a lovely soft background.
This bird sits on another one of the open doors. The grass in the back is in full sunlight and makes for a good background as well. A hint of flash takes care for the dark side of the swallow inside the barn.
Same location as photo #2 but for a brief moment the sun was hidden by a cloud and I chose a much shorter exposure time for the ambient light. The flash doesn’t overpower the bird and with 1/800 s I was able to nail the gesture the Barn Swallow made at that moment.
Kevin had photographed in the barn earlier this week already and today he tried to make a picture of a Barn Swallow with open wings, approaching a resting place. That is quite a challenge! He pre-focussed on a particular spot and waited for his chance but the birds did not use this place as often as earlier this week.
My thanks goes to Kevin for inviting me! I had again a great time!