Black Swans courting - Rotorua , New Zealand

[Tony Whitehead]

Nikon D300
200-400 @380
1/200s @ f5.6 ISO 400
Matrix - exp comp +1.0
Flash - 1.3
I would have preferred it a fraction later in their rotation to have a little more separation between the beak and neck the bird on the right. Other query is regarding water droplets - are there too many? - are they distracting?
advice and opinions appreciated

[Nicole Brooker]

I like the composition and the poses you have captured. The water droplets don't bother me. Agree a little more rotation would have been nice but lovely interaction nonetheless.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Unusual pose and great details!!!

[Arthur Morris]

Sharp. Amazing dof for f/5.6. How big a crop is this? (If the birds were on the exact same plane--it is hard to tell--that would explain the fact that both birds are so sharp...) I love the design and the interaction. If you had been just a few inches to the right....

later and love, artie

[Tony Whitehead]

Thanks for the comments. The birds are essentially in the same plane. I took a number of images as they were slowly rotating around each other and this was the best as both were sharp - a fraction of a second later would have got the beak/neck separation. It is a landscape image with the sides cropped off so not a huge crop