Trumpeter Swans - Taken just after 'sunrise' on a cloudy cold day at Shadow Lake near Snohomish WA on the 16th of Dec. Thanks to a south wind, the swans were taking off coming toward me for a change.
I kept this shot because of the early morning mood.
Canon 40D 400mm f5.6L 1/1000s ISO 1250 f5.6 0 exp comp AE partial metering no filtering, minor crop, brightness/contrast edits.
As someone who has been know to post a picture or two of trumpeter swans, I always enjoy seeing them.
Nice formation flying, although I would prefer the head of the back bird to be less blocked by the front birds wing. I think it would have worked better if the lower bird was closer to us, so its neck overlapped the wing, rather than the opposite. If we could just get them to fly the way we want:p
I know you were after the early morning look, but I might go just a bit brighter, perhaps 1/4 stop.
Thanks for taking the time to critique, Randy. I agree with you. I'll be posting at least one other shot from the same morning. I'll keep your points in mind.
Terry
Terry - I really like the symmetry here - that in itself makes the photo for me. I agree with Randy - could use a slight exposure increase. Did you run NR? If so I suggest another run to reduce the slight granularity in the BG.
Thanks Randy, Dan, and Todd for your suggestions and comments! Here's a revised version - lightened, and filtered using Neat Image. I did a bit of spot sharpening to offset the loss of detail caused by the NR.