Theme: Winter preening - Immature Trumpeter Swan

[Randy Stout]

Taken this AM under dim conditions, low contrast. Was just doing a quick trial of my newly acquired Sigma 150-600 S. What a brick of a lens, very dense, wonderful build quality, with better haptics than any Nikon zoom I have used.

Will need to fine tune the AF, which is tedious but very doable with the USB dock.

D4 Sigma 150-600 S @ 400mm f/7.1 ISO 1000 1/1000s

Post: Crop for comp (80% remains) Selective sharpening, detail extractor on pupil

Advice and comments appreciated as always. In perfect world, would have preferred to have the full curve of the belly below showing, to match the neck curve.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

The preening pose is good, and the white-on-white them is appealing to me. The blacks look just right. Good feather details, I especially like the primaries pointing to tour right. Yes, bummer about the belly not fully included - forgot to zoom out? Tough cropping options at the bottom - I'm not sure about leaving the bits of thighs in, but at the same time cropping up from below gives an awkward feel. This is perhaps the best compromise if you do not have anymore canvas below.

[Randy Stout]

Daniel:

Since I shoot with primes 95% of the time, I forgot to zoom out a bit more! I did check my other frames, all have the same crop of belly unfort.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Lovely white on white image, Randy. Nice feather definition.

[steve torna]

Hi Randy, I am getting lost in this image; it definitely draws me in. The details in the whites and the many shades of white and tan is really captivating. I personally don't have any problem with cropping out the legs because it makes the swan seem to blend into the background even more as if he is erupting from the landscape. I also like the pose and the way it's neck is elegantly curled and the position of it's head. Beautiful image. steve

[Mike Poole]

So many subtle tones to look at - fantastic. I bet it looks great in print.

I'm a bit unsure about the best way of framing the lower part of the image, is there any more there?

Mike

[Randy Stout]

So many subtle tones to look at - fantastic. I bet it looks great in print.

I'm a bit unsure about the best way of framing the lower part of the image, is there any more there?

Mike

Mike: Unfortunately, that is all the material I have at the bottom.

Thanks folks for your comments. The fact that he was an immature bird, gave just enough pigmentation to help the feathers stand out. An adult would be harder to get the visual separation on, esp. in that very dull/dim light.

Cheers

Randy

[Glenn Conlan]

I like this alot. Makes you look at it with close examination, draws you in, special