Take off

[dave v]

On a cold morning in Minnesota, (-16 f) One darn fool journeyed out into the cold to see if he could get a few shots of trumpeter swans.

I got to my favorite spot before sunrise to check things out.
The spot that I like to go to is downstream of a power plant. On the very cold days, steam rises up from the river water to create a fog or mist. As the sun is rising, the chances for a dramatic shot become better than average.

I think this shot will be one of my best swan shots for years to come.

The sun rose to the right of me. As it did, the mist/fog seemed to part to allow the sun to get to the swans. At the same time, the mist/fog parted from me to the swans to give me a window to take the shot through.

The shot was taken with a Canon XTi with a Canon 28-300is lens. shot in JPG at ISO 400, 1/800th of a second, at f5.6.
I have done very little to this shot in post.

[Ed Cordes]

Now this is cool! Pun intended. Seriously, great light. If I were to find a not it wold be that the BG swan is a bit OOF compared to the FG one. However, I could chalk it up to the neat mist/fog. Neither one shows up in the thumb! Looks like a dark frame on my monitor.

[Bonnie Block]

Very awesome image, Dave! No nits from me--love it!
Thumbnail dark for me as well.

[Fabs Forns]

Big welcome, Dave, hope you can find your virtual home here :)


Great action and mood, the gentle kiss of light puts it over the top, big congrats on a grand entracne!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Stunning image and superb lighting as well as wonderful action and timing. Big welcome Dave and hope to see more of you in the future !

[John Cooper]

Beautiful light creating a wonderful mood here Dave. I feel I want to see more light on their faces but pretty stunning as is!!!

[Jake Tiefel]

It is an eerie setting.
Very well done. Water droplets are great.
I really like it.

Jake

[Steve Canuel]

You set the bar pretty high for your future posts. This is a beautiful image.
Steve

[Marko Matesic]

Print it BIG :)
and ...welcome :)

[Juan Aragonés]

Sweet light and action here. I love the mood of the scene.

[Jim Poor]

Great image, and a great intro to it as well. Welcome aboard.

[Jeff Wear]

a great contest shot --very well done

[Glenn Bartley]

Very moody. I love it.

[Chris van Rooyen]

All been said, well done!

[Rick A. Brown]

Whoa. Whoever made the comment about how high you set the bar for yourself with your first image wasn't kidding. It might be possible to equal this, but I don't think it can be surpassed.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The faint reflections below the birds add an important element to this image. Dare I say that even the noise in the BG looks OK here and adds to the drama? :-) Congrats on such a fine one, oh and welcome aboard!

[Phil Seu]

spectacular shot. i wish for your sake you had it in RAW.

phil

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Great shot,congrats and welcome!

[dave v]

Thanks Everyone.

I have a couple more shots waiting in the wings (pun intended)

I only shoot JPG's. I don't believe in RAW. It's a personal choice, and I choose JPG.

dave.

[Jim Poor]

Thanks Everyone.

I have a couple more shots waiting in the wings (pun intended)

I only shoot JPG's. I don't believe in RAW. It's a personal choice, and I choose JPG.

dave.

Oh my bleeding ears ;)

[Linda Robbins]

Absolutely beautiful image! I love everything about it. You'll be hard pressed to top this one!

[Mike Lentz]

A big welcome buddy! And to think I had dinner with you tonight and tried to actually try and convert you into being a RAW shooter. :D:p

[dave v]

A big welcome buddy! And to think I had dinner with you tonight and tried to actually try and convert you into being a RAW shooter. :D:p

Yeah, Mike and I with some others met up tonight for some wings. (you have to love the irony in that, eating wings, talking bird photos)
Mike will have to take some pain meds tonight after beating his head against the wall, trying to get me to shoot RAW.
I won't say never, but I will say not right now.

I've been in more than my share of decisions about RAW and JPG, and really, I don't want to open that old book up again.

Thanks again everyone.

davev.

[Mike Lentz]

well seeeeeeee :D:D