More from the Grand Union Canal in Apsley

[Ian]

After my exploits the other day along the canal with a very expensive (and big and heavy!) Olympus Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 (600mm equivalent) pro-spec lens, I revisited the swans with the cheapest Olympus DSLR (E-450) and the budget 70-300 zoom:


More strutting (if you can use that term for swans!)


This style of pose went down well last time.


It was a much more challenging day for the camera as the late morning spring sun was beating down.


This has to be one of my favourites.


Though this isn't bad


More dribbling!


I mentioned the dribbling didn't I?

And finally:









So that's how they do it!

Ian

PS All these shots were processed from RAW files in Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta 2

[Graham_of_Rainham]

For something that swims and spends a lot of time with its head underwater, why don't they just jump straight in

Something often talked about is getting the right exposure with swans to maintain the detail and not burn out the whites. Did you expose to the right for these shots and claw back the detail from the RAW files or were they compensated for

A side by side comparison of the 300mm and the 70-300, with everything else the same for both could be interesting

Of course we are all still waiting for the head on landing shots

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Graham_of_Rainham

For something that swims and spends a lot of time with its head underwater, why don't they just jump straight in

Something often talked about is getting the right exposure with swans to maintain the detail and not burn out the whites. Did you expose to the right for these shots and claw back the detail from the RAW files or were they compensated for

A side by side comparison of the 300mm and the 70-300, with everything else the same for both could be interesting

Of course we are all still waiting for the head on landing shots

The dynamic range required for these shots is way to wide for any camera, so you have to expose for the highlights. It was all a bit hit and miss really. I set the camera for centre-weighted metering (spot is too hit and miss when the subject is moving around so much) and adjusted the ISO to give me a good fast shutter speed, both to counter subject movement and camera shake (no IS with the E-450 of course).

I sometimes used manual exposure bias (up to -2EV) in anticipation of metering errors. In general, there were some over-hot highlights, but I was able to recover all with the Lightroom recovery slider. I also used the fill light slider to bring up the dark areas.

Ian

[Ian]

One more, from a different angle:



Ian

[Jocelyn Walker]

Some beautifull shots there Ian! These creatures emanate such an aura of serenity! I do so love to watch ducks dabbling but swans are the Queen Mary or Britannica of waterways! The only other waterfowl or bird to inspire in me the same kind of rapture is the flamingo, especially when grouped together and feeding in the water!

[rkhart]

These photos are absolutely stunning Ian You've truly captured the beauty of these swans!