Trumpeter Swan with day old cygnets.

Hi Len, I've only just recently seen (and heard) trumpeter swans but have never seen cygnets of any kind before. What a great picture!

Given that one does not have a lot of time when happening upon a

scene like this, what would you have done to improve this image?

Technique? Equipment? Film? Best, LM.

i like how you've captured the water state

Good 'ol 515. She's a great swan, that 515.

 

Lovely composition. Nicely framed.

Muddy & lacks lustre.

I can see the idea, but you should have decided to either include the reflection of the neck and head in the composition or not. Excluded, too much space below; incded, too little space down there. The reflection is not quite salient enough to be taken seriously.

Janne, Not an excuse for lack of artistic result but the reality of the situation was I had never seen Trumpeter Swans before & to be suddenly confronted by this constantly & quickly moving family caused 'Buck Fever' syndrome. As it was, I had time for only two frames before the group rounded an island & disappeared. This was the first & better of the two. It's value is mainly that of a rare sighting that even experienced observers consider rare. Kind of like the UFO sighting photos, only clearer:) Best, LM.

This is a very fine capture - I have no reason to doubt that it is a rare one as well. The photo is not bad, the only real problems are the low contrast between subjects and background (ironically, this would have been a fine neutral background for any other, more colored, animal but a family of swans), and some lack of sharpness in the swan's head and neck. As regards the shot itself, I don't really have suggestions as to what might have been done - as you say, there is rarely a chance for thinking much under similar circumstances. As far as post-processing is concerned, I would clone out the identification tag, which is really a bit awkward here, and would rotate the image anticlockwise by one or two degs - the water surface seems to be tilted a bit.

Nice. Cheers

Glad you like it.  Best, Len.