Mute Swan dancing

denis_roschlau · November 11, 2019, 11:58am

Good Day everyone,

I just signed up, so please be gentle

I saw this mute swan on a lake in the park of Nymphenburg Palace here in Munich where it was cleaning and splashing a lot of water in the process.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

While i quite like the frozen droplets and slight feather blur of the 1/1600s exposure, i keep wondering if a longer exposure would have added more drama to the scene…what do you think?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Basically the same as above, would you have used another (wider) crop?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

I haven´t done to much to this photo, some basic tonal works, a bit rotation and some sharpening

Taken with a Nikon D5 with the 180-400mm f4 VR @ 1/1600s, f/5.6 ISO 100 @ 290mm

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@denisroschlau

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Hans_Overduin · November 11, 2019, 1:11pm

Hello, Denis, and welcome !
A great image to start with, the droplets make for quite some dynamics in this shot. The exposure time for me works fine as it is. Don’t know how much more room you have or had, but I would prefer to have bit more space around the Swan. Other than that, a fine image a presented.
Looks like a nice place to shoot (I visit Munich several times a year, since I’m working for the Messe München, maybe bring my gear some day )
Cheers, Hans

Keith_Bauer · November 11, 2019, 2:26pm

Welcome to NPN. We hope you’ll post more of your work and join in with comments / critiques on other images.

Your image is very dynamic. I like the choice of shutter speed to stop the droplets. Works well. I do wish for more room all the way around as this feels cramped. Maybe you have more and this is cropped?

Shirley_Freeman · November 11, 2019, 3:25pm

Welcome to NPN, Denis. This certainly is a fine fist post. Love the way the swan is kicking up the water. Great timing. I too wish for more space, especially since his is very active, but still a great shot as it is presented. Looking forward to more of your work. I visited Munich back in the 70’s while stationed in Germany in the US Army. Lovely place.

Allen_Brooks · November 11, 2019, 4:36pm

Welcome to NPN, Denis. I like the dynamic look of the wings and the water droplets. I’d say your timing was right on. The detail in the swan is nice as well. I wonder if the eye could be brought out? Very nice first post.

Dennis_Plank · November 11, 2019, 5:32pm

Welcome to NPN and the Avian forum, Denis. This is a wonderful first post. I love the triangle formed by the swan’s pose and the flying water makes for a very energetic feel. I’d say your shutter speed was very close to optimal. While water streaks can be very cool, much more motion blur in the swan would start to detract from the image. I tend to be a fan of looser compositions, but in this case the pose and action don’t seem to require any more room and it looks like you’ve captured most of the spray, so I’m fine with the framing. I would note that I’m viewing this in the “dark” mode, so the transition to the background isn’t too abrupt. In the light mode, it might feel more cramped.

The exposure looks perfect.

Again, welcome. I look forward to seeing a lot more of your work and your comments on other’s images.

Gary_Minish · November 12, 2019, 7:51am

Welcome to NPN, Denis! I think you’ll like it here. This photo is an excellent kick-off for you! Exposure and details are excellent and most of the action is stopped (my personal preference as opposed to blurred for this kind of shot). I’ve found that 1/2500 is just about the minimum to stop everything when they’re doing this kind of splashing and even that is sometimes not enough. As for the tight crop; it works fine for me in this case because it’s all abut the swan and the action rather than the environment. Killer photo for your first post!

denis_roschlau · November 12, 2019, 11:40am

Folks,

thank you very much for the warm welcome and the kind comments so far.

As for the wider crop, I´ll have to try another time, as the swan basically fills the original file.

I was a bit excited to get close to the action

regards

Denis

denis_roschlau · November 12, 2019, 11:41am

Yes, bring your gear! the place where i took this photo is right in the city with a lot of wildlife!

cheers