Lovers?

[Diane Miller]

I've seen this behavior from Mute Swans before -- some sort of pair bonding?? I waited quite a while and shot quite a few deletes until both heads were finally more or less in the same focal plane and at a decent head angle. Wwish there was a more interesting BG bit it was all water. They were so close to the shore I couldn't go closer and get lower without chasing them away. Cloudy day.

Canon 5D Mk III, 600mm II. Big Gitzo with Wimberley II. ISO 800, f/14, 1/640 sec. Very slight crop on the left edge. Basic LR adjustments, then to PS CS 6 for a small amount of Detail Extractor, Tonal Contrast and Darken-Lighten Center.

[Loi Nguyen]

Diane, love the pose and sharpness of the image. You exposed it perfectly. I'm not familiar with this species, so can't comment on the colors. Loi

[Randy Stout]

Diane:

Lovely exposure, detail, sharpness, def. pair bonding behaviour. I have a lot of trumpeter swans nearby and see this interaction a lot. Nice soft light.

Cheers

Randy

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Diane,

Greetings. Great composition (in camera, too!). The detail, moment and eye contact are superb. f/14, not in my usual thinking (may have to change that), works great here. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Beautiful composition Diane. Those curves are beautiful and flow so nicely creating that heart . Great dof and clean bg too

[gail bisson]

Excellent IQ. Whites and DOF are spot on.
I like the open heart shape created by the necks. Comp is super,
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

This is really a pleading image, Diane. The heart shape produced by their necks is killer and you have amazing details in those feathers!

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone! Their necks usually look dirty -- these were cleaner than normal and the slight tan is what I usually see. Maybe they're always just a little dirty.

I used f/14 hoping to get both in focus. This is the closest they came to being in the same plane, and only with time for one shot. I think they weren't happy to have me so close so I moved on after I got this shot. If I had stayed farther away I would have gotten an ugly grassy bank in the FG. I'm always greedy to get pixels on the subject, but if there's a good environment, that's more important.

I've learned not to ask birders about mute swans -- out here on the west coast they are said to be an invasive species, competing for resources with the natives. But then I look at the hundreds of Canada Geese within my field of view in the same immediate area and scratch my head. I'd need a hazmat suit to lie on my belly on the freshwater shores to try to shoot anything from a low angle.

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Diane I love this shot, as in put it on my wall in love with it.

The only slightest thing I would change is to bump the eye catch lights up just a notch so the one on the left pops a bit more.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, Linz! If I were so inclined, I could take about 15 minutes and do this to it.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Beautiful, well designed image, Diane. Your exposure is perfect, as is your DOF. I prefer the OP. TFS.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Perfect, Diane. Fabulous pose and feather detail. Very special.
There is about a 2-day window early Spring to catch this behavior around here... (I've missed it the last three years in a row).

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent Diane, I like the original

[Morkel Erasmus]

Such a sweet shot Diane. OP for me too.