Swans Coming In

Gallery: AvianPosted January 11, 2012144 views7 comments

Last week I had packed up for a visit to the Sacramento NWR to photograph birds, but I never got there. About 20 minutes from home I noticed flocks of tundra swans hanging out in flooded rice fields on both sides of the highway. I spent a couple of hours trying to find a good position from which to photograph, and taking a lot of pictures of these majestic birds.

The rear bird acted as though it had never landed before. Its feet were dangling comicly all over the place as it made its approach, but it did manage to land safely in the water with its companion.
D300, 300 + 1.4tc, F5.6, 1/4000s, ISO 800. Cloned out a telephone pole in the distance and the head of another swan on the water. Processed in NX2 and PSE. I was not able to approach very close, so this is at least a 50% crop. Does this work at this distance and with this crop? Comments appreciated.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 11, 2012 at 6:55 PM

I like the overall look of this, and the dangling feet are definitely a fun touch to the image. I like the soft hint of fog and the subdued colors.

The crop and definitely showing degradation in the larger image - the swans lack detail and the sky is showing a lot of noise.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 11, 2012 at 7:08 PM

Cool image, Jim. It might have worked a bit better in landscape format as it feels a bit crowded on the right. In the larger version there's a bit of "crincling" in the bg just over the right bird-possibly a sharpening artifact. Great atmosphere and I like the feel of this one.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 11, 2012 at 9:50 PM

A wonderful comp Jim. An image that brings back a lot of memories for me. The larger image has issues as has been pointed out. I would work on getting a similar shot devoid of those problems, because the subject, location, and atmosphere are wonderful.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 12, 2012 at 7:45 AM

Great job on this Jim, really like the setting and light on the birds.
Details look good in spite of the 50% crop, maybe next time you can get closer?
Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Eirini Pajak on January 12, 2012 at 7:46 AM

Before I read your comment I thought the guy on the left sure looks rather duckish! I like the composition & the foggy colors.

Registered on December 13, 2011, 216 Posts, 1671 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 12, 2012 at 8:07 PM

Before I read your comment I was chuckling to myself...looks like it's the first time the lower bird has landed. The upper bird just looks like a real pro! I also would rather a landscape format. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hansen on January 13, 2012 at 9:22 PM

Thanks for your comments everyone. Sorry it took awhile to respond, but work has been intense and no time to participate. Yes, I agree the larger version is really unacceptable. Really didn't see this until it was posted, but it was suspected. I also agree that a horizontal might have been better, but the birds would have been smaller in the frame if I wanted to include the water (is the water a necessary component?). Also, a horizontal would have necessitated a lot more cloning and I felt this was already kind of at its limit, at least for me. I have one or more other pictures to post from this trip (other species), but I will be going back.

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments