Saw this fellow cleaning/preening itself. Let me know what you think. Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire
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swan preening itself
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swan preening itself
Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!
www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390
North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!Tags: None
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Re: swan preening itself
Sorry Nathaniel .......... there's too much clutter in the background ...it's a bit dark .... needs a bit of sharpening .... not the best viewpoint really ........ IMHO ....OK as a record shot ............ apologies for harsh, but not one one your best ................Cheers Mark
www.ms-photo.co.uk
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Re: swan preening itself
Originally posted by X-ray-spex View PostSorry Nathaniel .......... there's too much clutter in the background ...it's a bit dark .... needs a bit of sharpening .... not the best viewpoint really ........ IMHO ....OK as a record shot ............ apologies for harsh, but not one one your best ................Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!
www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390
North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!
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Re: swan preening itself
Nathaniel
Shoot in RAW and use DPP which is free. Photoshop is overkill for your/our philosophy of shooting photos
I use Photoshop Elelments 8 to make finer adjustment than DPP. Even so I am not using only a small percentage of its capability
Brian
PS Henri Cartier-Bresson is quoted as saying that the photo should be composed in the viewfinder not the darkroom - which I am trying to get to.ef-r
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Re: swan preening itself
Originally posted by briansquibb View PostPS Henri Cartier-Bresson is quoted as saying that the photo should be composed in the viewfinder not the darkroom
Nathaniel, my twopennorth, for what it's worth.
The surrounding area doesn't lend itself to producing an image of a swan in a good setting and there isn't an appealing pose, the kind that makes you think, "Aww, sweet." Add to that poor light and you're struggling. Those kind of shots will have to be for another time and place.
What you really have is an action shot of the swan taking care of itself. For me that is a close up and personal type of thing, so that's how you need to compose it. Get rid of a lot of the background and you will have less messy surroundings and more detail to focus the viewer's eye.
For inspiration you need look no further than colin C's fantastic recent swan and cygnet shots. The composition of each one has nothing included that doesn't need to be there but includes everything necessary to tell the story. Also bear in mind he is very good at getting the technical details right, but even so he still develops each image so it looks its best.
If you want some easy to use free software to have a go at honing your development skills have a look at Picasa 3 from Google and Faststone Image Viewer (just Google them for links). On the other hand, if you must have some Adobe software have a look at Lightroom, now out as version 3. It's not cheap, over two hundred pounds, but less expensive than Photoshop CS and is designed specifically for photographers. I find it easier to use than CS or even Elements.
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Re: swan preening itself
Hi! Rover,
I know that Colin C is a master photographer and I am keeping notes of his "secrets" so that one day I will "beat" him to it.
With hindsight I agree that the background is cluttered and will note this in future shots. Anyway, I am going away on hols in 10days time-Germany and Italy (quite contrasting countries) & I intend taking a few shots in both Jpeg & Raw, without getting too much out of my COMFORT zone & falling foul of SWMBO. I will use DPP as suggested by Brian as well as photoshop 8- just to see the difference. So watch out for better postings after my hols.
Many thanks for taking the trouble to point out my deficiencies. I am flexible enough to learn from my mistakes.Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!
www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390
North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!
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Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!
www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390
North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!
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