Staying Warm

Thanks for looking. Comments welcomed.

Larry:

 

I like it. Tricky exposure and you maintained the "right" colors. (There appears to be no real shadow here--and as that is ice we'd expect a longer shadow at this time of year in the N hemisphere. I assume that's where you got the great exposure. Lacks the harse light of sun on snow.)

 

I might have cropped it a tad tighter removing the darker band at the top and possibly a smidgeon off the right.

 

Still, it is a good shot and captures what geese and swans (they ARE swans, eh?) do when it starts to get cold.

 

Cheers!

 

Clive

 

 

I just love the white-on-white of these swan photos! There's something so serene and wonderful about these tones. Offset, of course, by their black stockings.

Thank you Clive for your critique and comments. Its nice of you to take the time to do so.

 

Yes these are Trumpeter swans. A couple of weeks ago 6 adults and 1 juvenile took up residence at a local pond. It appears they intend to spend the winter in this area which has many of the local town folk, including yours truly, giving thanks.

 

Re the lighting, it was a very cold and snowy day when I took this. I don?t think the sun came out from behind the clouds all day. For shooting white birds I think its much easier with diffuse light like in this shot. When the sun is really shining, not only can it be too harsh, but quite often the contrast makes it extremely difficult to keep from blowing highlights in the plumage.

 

Thank you Kim. I am glad you like it. I have tried taking high key photos before with less than spectacular success. I am happy with this one though. I have a couple other shots I will probably eventually post on here too.

 

I have been checking on these guys at least twice a day. If they stay here all winter I am going to end up with an awful lot of swan photos.

I like the atmosphere of the photo, really nice!

Thank you Ellen.

...am I wrong?.....white velvet pic. greetings from Poland...R.

Greetings Ryszard. You are correct. There was a strong wind blowing when I took this. It was cold too. It got down to -21 degrees celsius that night. Thats a little too cool for comfort.

Excellent job Larry - would probably make a nice high contrast b&w too ...

very good. Awful lot of swan shots sound very good to me if they are like this - :-).

Thank you Ken. I actually did consider did consider doing this in black and white. In the end though I just couldn't resist the subtle ivory color in those feathers.

Thank you. Unfortunately within 24 hours of taking this photo, that pond froze solid and the swans abandoned it. I was lucky enough to be there when departed. (I posted a shot of them flying away in fact.) I saw them on a different lake the next day, but its frozen too. After the recent cold snap almost everything around here is. Swans need open water to feed so I don't have great hopes of them remaining in this area much longer. Anyway thanks again for the comments.