This trumpeter was imaged at the local bird sanctuary. Cold but still day, not very much activity. Had been pretty cloudy all day, low light levels, not a catchlight to be seen!
I did like the pose. He was landing, so the snow was clean, no foot prints.
D700 600 f/6.3 1/1000s ISO 1000 Manual Gitzo/Wimberley
Post;
CS5 curves selective sharpening crop for comp.
Left the slight blue tint for coldness sake.
Advice and thoughts always appreciated.
Cheers
Randy
Last edited by Randy Stout; 01-17-2011 at 08:21 AM.
Just amazing! one of the best photographs I have seen on here.
Max detail black and whites; even detail in the eye.
Pose is perfect, composition so simple yet sets the mood perfectly, even the subtle line between snow/sky is just right.
Randy, now thats timing to capture the 'toes' just on touch down. Great exposure all round, and I like how the light is shown through the far wing. Most of all, great separation in exposure between swan and BG. Well done.
The swan is nearly disappearing into the white BG, but some may see that as an advantage: the ghostly swan in winter. The position of the feet is unusual. I'd have thought he was taking off, not landing. I appreciate the simplicity of this image.
Nice clean image Randy with a very interesting pose open to many interpretations which is what captures the imagination. Good defenition amongst all those whites and I particularly like the shadow of the bird.
I can really get a sense of graceful motion from this bird even though I wouldn't necessarily say that a Swan has the most graceful of landings! And the position of the bird is great too!
TFS
I love the white on white, with the black bill and feet offereing a bit of contrast to the scene. Another thing I love here is the subtle shadow below the swan, very nice.
I agree about the shadow. It establishes a plane in the image, some sense of level/horizon.
Despite the impression that he is going to fall over on his facing trying to land, he salvaged it well and came to a more or less graceful rest a few frames later.
Wow. Gorgeous. And the exposure, so spot on. The wonderful detail in the highlights and the shadows... the lovely understated colours... another forum I'm on has a bowing "worship" emoticon which I have never used, but if this forum had it, I'd be using it right now!