Swan and cygnet

[Mike Hitchen]

One of the local parks had a swan nesting in a very convenient location and on a visit there I managed to get some shots with the cygnet on the mother's back

Canon 7D2 with 400DOii and 1.4x extender mkii.
1/320 f9.0 ISO 1000

[gail bisson]

I like your composition here ( I could also see a version with a bit more on the bottom) and I really like all the details in the head of the adult.
Good IQ and exposure.
The water droplets on the body are very nice.
I just wish the chick was a bit less OOF but realize that this is very difficult to achieve even at F9.
A very pleasing and soothing image,
Gail
PS Did you do any NR on the BG?

[Mike Hitchen]

Than you for your comments, Gail. There was no noise reduction on the background.
It was certainly tricky to get the framing and the DOF - maybe I could have stood back a bit to get more DOF and then cropped. I tried some shots with the focus on the cygnet but they did not look right with the visually more dominant mother OOF.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Mike sometimes I like these close ups of swans and sometimes I don't think they work - but I think this does! My eyes are immediately drawn in, you have good plumage detail, and excellent exposure.
I think you could get a little more out of the wing, overall a very nice image indeed.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Mike, a well thought out comp, and I like your positioning when you captured this. Well exposed on the parent, love the colour of the plumage, and Im fine with DOF of the youngster.