Here’s a photo of the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) that I took today just prior to the confrontation that I featured in my previous blog entry. The sky was almost completely white, because the day was heavily overcast, and it totally disappeared when I was adjusting the RAW image.
This was one of the first times that I used flash to add a little light and bring out the colores and it seems to have worked out pretty well. Some of the more dedicated bird photographers that I see use a Fresnel lens attachment for their external flash units to give more reach to the flash—I am not sure that I am ready to go that far yet.
I managed to get a pretty good amount of detail in this shot, even capturing some of the raindrops on the swallow’s wing.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Good for you to try the flash. I haven’t gone down that route yet.
I think it works ok for birds, which don’t seem to be disturbed by the flash, but I am not sure that it works for mammals. If you are interested, do a search on “Better Beamer” and you can find reviews on the flash extender fresnel lens. I was prompted to use my pop-up flash, because I figured the colors would be really dull on such a heavily overcast day.
That’s a great picture, Mike! Beautiful bird and very nice details in your picture. How close were you, and was the bird disturbed by the flash?
Thanks. The bird was totally undisturbed by the flash and didn’t fly away on anything. I think I was probably about 10 feet (3 meters) away on a raised boardwalk. I crouched low to try to get this more or less at eye level (and I was balancing an umbrella in one hand as I took the shot).
I know how difficult that is, and it makes me even more impressed you got such a clear shot! 🙂
Nice shot, Mike! People I was birding with in Cuba used a Fresnel lens attached to their external flash routinely, and it did produce excellent results.