Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Olympus : E-M1X
Focal Length : 300.0mm
Focal length in 35 mm film : 601.0mm
Exposure mode : Manual exposure
ISO : 1250
Exposure compensation : 0.0 EV
Exposure program : Manual
Shutter : 1/2000 sec
Aperture : F5

ACR/PSCC

[David Roach]

Love the framing, totally spot on EXP, water action and pose. Others will disagree but I also love the natural light and shadows (even though the face is shadowed). TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, I like the action and displaced spray, adds movement to he scene, but again, I feel it's too tight for my tastes and if you can, a wee bit more separation of the bill and backdrop. Visually a slight CW rotation might also help. The two 'ghosting/galaxy/nebula' areas to the right of the head are distracting, I would loose those, although have you done anything else in or around that area as there are some streaks??? Nice detail in the plumage, might be tad more in there???? I quite like the slightly muddy/creamy plumage, but again you could go more 'pristine' but think as presented looks more authentic, but based on the laptop screen.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks David and Steve, yes I played with the white balance prior to posting, I produced quite a different array of results, I settled for this bearing in mind I could have gone with more yellow. I haven't done anything to the background other than crop off at the left to remove more obvious streaking which is there to be seen albeit to a lesser extent top right. Details in the whites, maybe more could be obtained what would you have done - I adjusted the whites 5-6 are you suggesting luminance or perhaps clarity/detail?

[Steve Kaluski]

- I adjusted the whites 5-6 are you suggesting luminance or perhaps clarity/detail?

Whatever works Jon, I tend to remove the colour cast with a Mode blend colour selection, however I quite like the off white, but you have something as a comparison.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Coming back to the area around the head, my mistake - I did in fact replace a grey streaky area , I had forgotten I did that, thinking I had cropped out the grey area only on the far left of the capture.

[Randy Stout]

Jon:

I love the action/splash, dark background.
Yes , a bit tighter framing than my personal preference, but it does play up the impact of the subject.

As someone who photographs a lot of swans in the winter, I have seen a wide range of whites, sometimes stained with tannins from the water, so don't agonize over the exact shade of white too much.

Yes to cleaning up the background bits per Steve.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

I have seen a wide range of whites, sometimes stained with tannins from the water, so don't agonize over the exact shade of white too much.

Spot on Randy.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jon ... nice action shot . Looks always great in combo with the kinda lighting .
Difficult to deal with light and shadows , but you did well .
There is for sure some more room to play with the overall tonality , but I am ok with it as presented .
I can see what Steve is being , it could be addressed .... but not a must to do IMHO .

TFS Andreas

[Dorian Anderson]

That's some serious splashing; it makes for a unique and beautiful frame. Whites look great to me -- both in color and exposure -- and I agree about more space all around (but especially below).My biggest issue is the shaded face even if the side lighting helps with the splash.

[Jonathan Ashton]

That's some serious splashing; it makes for a unique and beautiful frame. Whites look great to me -- both in color and exposure -- and I agree about more space all around (but especially below).My biggest issue is the shaded face even if the side lighting helps with the splash.

Hi Dorian thanks for your comment, I know this is a real issue with you guys over in USA but I just don't get it, one side is in the shade one isn't - so what is wrong with that? yes one side is darker, the ye and the lores are still discernible - I feel it adds interest, if it was all one monotonous white I feel it would be much less interesting.