Winter Project; Up on Tippy Toes

[Randy Stout]

This trumpeter was imaged at the local bird sanctuary. Cold but still day, not very much activity. Had been pretty cloudy all day, low light levels, not a catchlight to be seen!

I did like the pose. He was landing, so the snow was clean, no foot prints.

D700 600 f/6.3 1/1000s ISO 1000 Manual Gitzo/Wimberley

Post;

CS5 curves selective sharpening crop for comp.
Left the slight blue tint for coldness sake.

Advice and thoughts always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Richard Unsworth]

Hi Randy

Just amazing! one of the best photographs I have seen on here.

Max detail black and whites; even detail in the eye.
Pose is perfect, composition so simple yet sets the mood perfectly, even the subtle line between snow/sky is just right.

[thijs broekkamp]

Really cool image with just the white environment, nice pose too. Wish the head would be a bit sharper

[Stu Bowie]

Randy, now thats timing to capture the 'toes' just on touch down. Great exposure all round, and I like how the light is shown through the far wing. Most of all, great separation in exposure between swan and BG. Well done.

[Chris Kotze]

Super timing and great exposure on a difficult subject.

[James Salywoda]

Such a serene mood in this shot I really like your composition Randy well done.

[Craig Brelsford]

The swan is nearly disappearing into the white BG, but some may see that as an advantage: the ghostly swan in winter. The position of the feet is unusual. I'd have thought he was taking off, not landing. I appreciate the simplicity of this image.

[Pieter de Waal]

Nice clean image Randy with a very interesting pose open to many interpretations which is what captures the imagination. Good defenition amongst all those whites and I particularly like the shadow of the bird.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Awesome shot, Randy. loved the white-on-white with the blacks. Perfect shooting angle and pose.

[Todd Frost]

Well done Randy. Great iming and pose. Nice comp and exposure.
TFs
Todd

[Mark Young]

Excellent timing! This pose is just superb! :cheers:

[AlvanBuckley]

I can really get a sense of graceful motion from this bird even though I wouldn't necessarily say that a Swan has the most graceful of landings! And the position of the bird is great too!
TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the white on white, with the black bill and feet offereing a bit of contrast to the scene. Another thing I love here is the subtle shadow below the swan, very nice.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input.

I agree about the shadow. It establishes a plane in the image, some sense of level/horizon.

Despite the impression that he is going to fall over on his facing trying to land, he salvaged it well and came to a more or less graceful rest a few frames later.

Cheers

Randy

[Kiran Poonacha]

Beautifully done Randy.. loved it..

[Russell Edwards]

Wow. Gorgeous. And the exposure, so spot on. The wonderful detail in the highlights and the shadows... the lovely understated colours... another forum I'm on has a bowing "worship" emoticon which I have never used, but if this forum had it, I'd be using it right now!