Rare Close-up Photography of Swallows by Japanese Cinematographer Kotaro Okamoto

Text: Alex

Recently, it is the day when the young swallows leave the nest. You may see several swallows flying at low altitude, and even see the young swallows being fed. Some sparrow photography masters captured the momentary footage of swallows preying in the air. Because the picture is so wonderful and allows everyone to see many details that are rarely seen in ordinary times, it was highly praised by netizens and received more than 22,000 likes.

▲ “Today’s best work: Swallows predating scene.”

Japanese cinematographer Kotaro Okamoto (@c9_tereko) loves to photograph birds, especially kingfishers and birds of prey, including “iron birds” (fighters), yet he is a fisherman by trade. Whenever he takes a satisfactory work, he will share it with his colleagues on social media. As for the photo of the swallow that was praised, the composition is a close-up scene of a swallow with spread wings opening its mouth to catch insects. What is rare is that the swallow in the photo has closed the nictitating membrane (a translucent eyelid), and even some blood vessels in the mouth can be seen, as well as the shiny feather color. The rich details have opened the eyes of many netizens.

▲The perfect photo of swallows flying also made Okamoto “very excited and excited”.

Everyone should know that the flying speed of swallows is one of the fastest among birds, and coupled with their small size, it is difficult to see some details clearly with the eyes, not to mention chasing pictures with the lens! Therefore, netizens praised it as “God’s work” and “picture book-level photos”, and some people even lamented that “(I) will never be able to take such photos in my life” and “I will not take one in ten thousand photos.” In the message area, some netizens asked Okamoto for his secrets of success, except for the shooting equipment (Sony A1 + 600mm F4 GM) and settings (ISO 800, f/4, 1/6, 4000s, +0.7EV) mentioned in the tweet , he also mentioned that using the “red dot sight” will have a multiplier effect.

▲Okamoto’s latest work is a peregrine falcon shot with a shutter speed of 1/20s. He said later that he “will try to shoot birds with a shutter speed of 1/10s at the cost of absolutely nothing”.

Source: Kotaro Okamoto (@c9_tereko）