From humble beginnings grow mighty flappers - trumpeter cygnet
Two days ago I posted an adult trumpeter swan in full flap. This image is of where he started out from. It always amazes me. Taken at my local bird sanctuary.
D300 500mm f/4 at f/4 1/400s ISO 800 Gitzo and Wimberley.
Post: CS5, selective sharpening, modest crop from the right. The left side of the back bird was clipped slightly in the original. Not only did I need more canvas, I had to rebuild the birds body on that side too. Interesting artistic challenge I thought.
At this venue it is difficult to get lower because of the chain link fence. At that point, crawling on your belly like a reptile and shooting through the heavy chain link fence had not been popularized by Gary Esman yet.
Randy: Amazing isn't it that they grow up to be so magnificent!
I'm bothered by the OOF second bird as it is such a major part of the image. My eye keeps wanting to make him sharper. Too bad there wasn't more light to stop down to get it in a bit better focus as well. The front bird is really nicely done with all his down edges showing nicely against the lovely water color.
BTW, I can see where you rebuilt a bit of the second chick as the down seems to be sharper there. You might want to blur it a bit.
I find the oof bird very distracting. The identical poses do help a lot but I am still not loving it!
I am most impressed by your PP skills as I am still trying to figure out how to rebuild wingtips...(and yes, I do have Robert O'Tooles APTATS! and I still can't figure it out)
Gail
Very cute litlle fuzz balls Randy. These guys are adorable. Hard to believe what size they grow to, really amazing as you said. I like how they both have the same downward looking pose. Good shots considering the conditions presented at that location.
Excellent shot. Exposed very well, like the softness of these little guys, I personally dont mind the oof bird. I think it works works great here.
Well done.
Randy, your adult swan looms large in my memory, so to see this little guy seems amazing how they can grow up to your large wing flapping adult. Well exposed, and love the soft plumage captured. With regards to the rebuild, ( although you were there ) I feel maybe a touch more 'rounding off'.
I did run a gaussian blur on the rebuilt areas, and most of it looks pretty consistent with the rest of the OOF fuzz, but I will hit the sharpest area one more time.
It is always interesting to try and make an image with two separated birds like this work. There was no way under these lighting conditions to get them both sharp, so I went for very sharp on the front one and did nothing to the rear except the rebuild. I think the matching poses made it work despite the OOF look to the back bird.
From humble beginnings grow mighty flappers - trumpeter cygnet
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