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Thread: Landing Swan

  1. #1
    JP Bruce
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    Default Landing Swan

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    Took this last week on visit to Kellogg Bird Sanctuary in Michigan. Really enjoyed seeing wild swans. They were good for me as they are big and slow. Comments welcome.

    Canon 40D, 70-200 f4 with 1.4tc, 1/1600 at f9, exposure comp -2/3, ISO 400
    Last edited by JP Bruce; 05-28-2009 at 12:14 AM. Reason: to add iso

  2. #2
    BPN Member Tony Whitehead's Avatar
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    Looks like a barely controlled crash landing:D. Light angle is not ideal but nice that the head and neck are clearly lit. Not sure if that severe slant to the water surface is intentional or accidental. Leveling the water and a little more space around the bird would be nice.
    Tony Whitehead
    Visit my blog at WildLight Photography for latest news and images.

  3. #3
    Tell Dickinson
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    Hi JP, I think you did very well with exposure in the harsh light conditions, the slanting water puts me off a little but making that level will make the swan more tipped over which may make or may break the image, so not sure what to think ?

  4. #4
    Avian Moderator Randy Stout's Avatar
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    JP:

    Glad you made it to the KBS. This is a familiar looking fellow. I didn't make it last week, was out of town, but will pop in again soon.

    I agree with Tony and Tell about the rotation. The difficulty is that unless you have more canvas to play with, you will cut off the top wing when you rotate the image. I would try it and see what you think.

    The dense trees around the lake can make lighting there a challenge, unless it is a pretty overcast day.

    Hope you have some more to share. Also fun to see what others get there, gives me new ideas.

    Cheers

    Randy

  5. #5
    JP Bruce
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    Thanks all. I did try rotating. Cut off the wing - decided I liked this composition better.

    Randy - Sorry we missed each other. I felt like I brought my AZ weather with me - very few clouds the whole week I was in MI. I'll be posting more.

  6. #6
    Tell Dickinson
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    Hi JP, just wanted to see what it looked like straight and I like it :) hope you dont mind.

  7. #7
    JP Bruce
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    Thanks Tell. How did you rotate without clipping off wing? I tried leveling during raw conversion and had all sorts of problems. Is definitely a more calming photo leveled.

  8. #8
    Tell Dickinson
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    Hi JP, not sure what program you use for editing but I just use PS Elements, if I select the levelling tool the tool bar gives me 3 different options, it was set to 'Crop to remove background' and that would have chopped the wing off, so I selected 'Grow or Shrink canvas to fit' which rotates the picture without cutting anything off by extending the canvas, then its just a matter of cloning in some water :) By the way this is AFTER RAW conversion :)

    I thought the swan would have looked much more unbalanced after rotation but was pleasantly surprised :)

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