Camera Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Shutter speed: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
ISO: 100
Exposure mode: Manual
Metering mode: Evaluative
Lens: Canon 70 to 200mm f/2.8 L with Canon 2X Teleconverter II
Focal length: 200mm or 400mm with Teleconverter or 600mm with the 1.5 crop factor and it still wasn't enough...
Handheld for speed...
Nancy & I escaped up to Fir Island, La Conner and Anacortes this last Sunday for some MUCH NEEDED time away from work/life. This past week was unusually stressful so this escape was most appreciated.
The photography though really wasn't happening. We did find a great spot (thanks Simon!) with a bunch of Trumpeter Swans but they were quite some distance from us requiring as much glass as we could muster. Hence the 2X Teleconverter... The real satisfaction came from simply being there away from the madness of our everyday lives in a place of awesome beauty and blessed silence if ya know what I mean.
This image is a very hefty crop. So it's VERY soft. I think it works though as is. I didn't even try and sharpen it. I think it works in an ethereal kinda way.
Congratulations! I have found that, whenever one tries to capture a romantic image of a gliding swan, the swan is likely to stick its butt in the air and its head in the muck at the bottom of the pond.
Posted by Harald Rust on March 21, 2006 at 9:45 PM
It is a neat image, particularly with the backdrop of the sandpipers in the tidelands. Especially like the reflections of the swans in the blue.
Harald
Posted by Mark Hudon on March 21, 2006 at 10:31 PM
Rick,
If this is a great big ol crop, what about going vertical and maybe getting the close shore, the water, the birds, the far part of the lake (with the water changing color due to the wind and light) and then maybe the far shore and maybe even sky. I don't know if you took it that way but the photo would change from a wildlife shot (where you need dead on sharp focus on the birds) to a layered landscape shot with wildlife.
Posted by Erik Lundh on March 21, 2006 at 11:44 PM
Rick,
Do you think that teleconverter added to the softness? I'm glad to see you got out and got some R&R.
Posted by Ned Fenimore on March 22, 2006 at 10:35 AM
Maybe lighten the dark areas a little too? Mark's crop suggestion sounds interesting, too...
How 'bout going out and "taking pictures"? Nah, then you have to get in the car and drive forever & stuff......and seriously, listening to the back-and-forth here is an education in itself. Good vernacular speculations!
Eric I fully agree that sometimes going back and re-shooting is the best solution. And hey it gets me outa the house and away from WORK so it can't be a bad thing!!
I have some images that have the snow covered Olympics in the background but again these swans were beyond the limit of my glass... I'll post one for yall to peruse.
Erik a 2X Teleconverter could be called a softening tool as much as a magnification tool.... Ya always pay in softness for that extra reach. Plus this was a VERY HEFTY crop of the captured image.
Thanks folks for the helpful critiques!! I ALWAYS appreciate it!!
Rick,
Jim has a good point. I know 2x converters are supposed to be soft, but not this soft. I do love the comp. If it was sharper, you'd have something here.
At a couple art shows I've sold at, I saw a guy next to me sell more copies of bird paintings, than anything else he had to offer...I didn't understand it...but what can you say, huh?
love the butt comment above-- laughed my head off-- nice pic, please opost some more up of my old haunting grounds, willya? anacortes kid in prague. the reflections are very nice and like the soft blues you got here. Rick--it's called romanticism and wistful thinking. after the brutal reality of television and journalism, wishy-washy bird images kinda soothe the raw edges of the soul. too bad I can't even take a picture of a bird on my desk.
this used to be great fishing area, but read last year that the fish are gone and smelt gone too-- making me homesick guys.
supposedly heron colony over near skyline by old airport-- check archives in anacortes american for it... and waking up there is a photographic event. c'mon I grew up there so I know.
Discussion
10 repliesShutter speed: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
ISO: 100
Exposure mode: Manual
Metering mode: Evaluative
Lens: Canon 70 to 200mm f/2.8 L with Canon 2X Teleconverter II
Focal length: 200mm or 400mm with Teleconverter or 600mm with the 1.5 crop factor and it still wasn't enough...
Handheld for speed...
Nancy & I escaped up to Fir Island, La Conner and Anacortes this last Sunday for some MUCH NEEDED time away from work/life. This past week was unusually stressful so this escape was most appreciated.
The photography though really wasn't happening. We did find a great spot (thanks Simon!) with a bunch of Trumpeter Swans but they were quite some distance from us requiring as much glass as we could muster. Hence the 2X Teleconverter... The real satisfaction came from simply being there away from the madness of our everyday lives in a place of awesome beauty and blessed silence if ya know what I mean.
This image is a very hefty crop. So it's VERY soft. I think it works though as is. I didn't even try and sharpen it. I think it works in an ethereal kinda way.
So lemme know what yall think of this ok??
Harald
If this is a great big ol crop, what about going vertical and maybe getting the close shore, the water, the birds, the far part of the lake (with the water changing color due to the wind and light) and then maybe the far shore and maybe even sky. I don't know if you took it that way but the photo would change from a wildlife shot (where you need dead on sharp focus on the birds) to a layered landscape shot with wildlife.
Do you think that teleconverter added to the softness? I'm glad to see you got out and got some R&R.
I have some images that have the snow covered Olympics in the background but again these swans were beyond the limit of my glass... I'll post one for yall to peruse.
Erik a 2X Teleconverter could be called a softening tool as much as a magnification tool.... Ya always pay in softness for that extra reach. Plus this was a VERY HEFTY crop of the captured image.
Thanks folks for the helpful critiques!! I ALWAYS appreciate it!!
Jim has a good point. I know 2x converters are supposed to be soft, but not this soft. I do love the comp. If it was sharper, you'd have something here.
At a couple art shows I've sold at, I saw a guy next to me sell more copies of bird paintings, than anything else he had to offer...I didn't understand it...but what can you say, huh?
this used to be great fishing area, but read last year that the fish are gone and smelt gone too-- making me homesick guys.
supposedly heron colony over near skyline by old airport-- check archives in anacortes american for it... and waking up there is a photographic event. c'mon I grew up there so I know.