Trumpeter Swans

Sometimes the subject of an image has to trump lighting conditions. I

know the lighting is not great, but I thought the sight of this family

of Trumpeter Swans would be of interest to the community.

I would clone out the little guy at the front left. He distracts me in a way that the other small ones in the background don't. Nice parade!

I like this as it is, but I just had a thought. What if you converted it to B & W turned up the contrast to get a true silhouette and cropped it so that only the swans were visible in the frame.......Hmmmm just a thought.

"Trumpeter Swans" is this a real variation of Swan breed, or is there some musical connection? : - )

 

Very well done Christal a great oppotunistic photograph!

 

Best Regards

 

Alf 

 

PS: did you get my email?

Trumpeter... As a non-musical radio player, to me this looks like an abstract musical score ;-).  I do like the b/w idea though. Well seen...  Mike

Yes, I got your email.  Thanks!  While I have some time I've just been working on editing pictures.  It's much more fun participating on PN when I have some images to contribute.  :-)  I promise I'll write soon.....I loved your newsy email!!

As for this image.  I have no idea if I've accomplished what you had in mind, but I quickly tried something and will post it below.  As for the Trumpeter Swan.....they get their name from their trumpet-like call.  It's haunting!  They're very elusive and they're HUGE!!!  That's why I left the ducks in the picture.....to give scale to how large even the cygnets are.   

Here are a few interesting facts.  I didn't fact-check this info, but I believe it to be accurate.

Facts:

• a female swan is called a ‘pen’
• a male swan is called a ‘cob’
• a baby swan is called a ‘cygnet’, which comes from the Latin word cygnus, meaning ‘swan’
• Trumpeters are the largest waterfowl in North America
• Trumpeter Swans were extirpated from eastern Canada over 200 years ago, primarily due to over-hunting. They were hunted for their meat, and feathers.
• Trumpeters are not bothered by the cold. They have up to 35,000 feathers and their downy layer is 2 inches thick
• Swans have 25 neck vertebrae – that’s almost twice as much as giraffes, who only have 13 

Fact Source: http://www.wyemarsh.com/swan_facts.html

 

As always, thanks for your suggestion.  I knew this image wasn't going to win any competitions, but I thought it deserved a look-see.  I'm fascinated by them and was thrilled to find such a large family of them.  They were WAY far away, and this was the first time I had used my 500mm lens.  To the naked eye they just looked like specks.

Oops!  I forgot the suggestion about changing it to B&W.  If Mike likes the idea also, that means I should should probably be guided by 2 of my favorite photographers.  :-)  I'll try to change it to B&W later.  I do think this severely cropped version is an improvement though. Thanks!

Thanks for your comment!  As I told Alf, I left the little fellas in because I wanted to show the scale that would indicate how big the Trumpeter Swans are.  But I can see your point.  Maybe you'll like the cropped version better. I appreciate your suggestion.

Yes, the attached crop is exactly how I envisaged it. It adds more impact I think.

I shall look forward to seeing the B & W conversion if you get time : - )

 

Cheers Christal!

 

Alf

Okay, here is a B&W version.  I'll be curious to know what everyone thinks.   I have an opinion, but I won't express it until a few people weigh in (hopefully!) 

I love the B & W version, but then I'm biased it was my suggestion : - )

Best Regards

 

Alf