Lake warrior - trumpeter swan - simplify

[Randy Stout]

This is the same bird a posted a few days ago. I thought about what I really liked about the series and decided to simplify things and get rid of what didn't work so well.

So, converted to B&W, eliminated the weak reflection, and made sure I had good head separation!

D4 500mm AFS f/5.6 ISO 500 1/3200s hand held

Post: Converted to black and white with Nik, cropped out reflection, and empty space above, full frame horizontally. Selective sharpening.

Thoughts and advice certainly appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[James Shadle]

Strong!
All the positives of the last image without any of it's negatives.

Posting this series was a nice educational exercise.

[Grace Scalzo]

Randy, I could see a bit more space on right as it feels tight there. And you know that I do like space up top for bird to fly in to , personal preference. The b and w treatment is perfect, bird glows!

[Don Lacy]

This works really well Randy, very dramatic with the flying water backlit. My only suggestion would be to open up the area around the face and our brighten the eye so there is more of a connection between the subject and viewer.

[David Salem]

Very cool Randy. The back lighting and the B&W really came together nicely. Love the water splashing throughout the scene. One of my faves from your swans. Nice work. Comp is perfect IMO

[christopher galeski]

very nice Randy,like the backlighting and spray,and looks great BW.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the water drops, back lighting and composition. I missed the series so I will have to take a look at the other images. Very well done Randy!

[Lyle Gruby]

B&W was the perfect choice, great comp. Backlighting really adds a nice dimension.

[Marina Scarr]

Ditto what James said...what a difference. Agree with Don on lightening up the eyie area. Lovely B&W.

[vishaljadhav]

Wonderful and strong image, i love the idea of B & W

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for your input and kind words.

Grace - this fellow blasted across the surface just long enough to chase another swan, never gained much altitude, which biased my crop a bit. I know, the viewer doesn't know that story, so should crop it in a more generic way But, I did think the long wing span worked with the pano crop.

I certainly can lighten the head a bit. I am always leery of making it look unnatural, based on the direction of the light, but may do a subtle tweak there.

Thanks again.

cheers

Randy