Emerging Swan Photo

Photographer’s Note

I looked at my current upload folder this morning and felt thoroughly disengaged from urban street scenes, performances and landscapes....the what seemed witty at the time images failed to make me laugh and I couldn't get behind any of the more intellectual stuff. I had to get up - after little sleep - to do an outdoor radio interview really early this morning...it's kind of made me think a lot since on the poverties of urban planning in so many places....perhaps that's how I ended up with this image of a swan in Stanley Park, Vancouver. This encounter a stones throw and a half from a busy thriving metropolis of three million people, alone in the early morning with mountains to one side and skyscrapers to the other.....still room for an intimate moment with nature, with a feeling of space, openess - perhaps it's just the difference of Canada with such vastness compared to this 'crowded island' of the UK - perhaps this morning i yearn yet again for a place, another place in the world I've fallen in love with.

I hope this isn't 'just another swan picture' and that it evokes some of the feelings in you that it does for me.....as Francis (Furachan) has written in his current intro (and I agree) our work shows so much of us as people not just photographers, how we look and feel about and connect with the world we live in......when a swan looks at you like this and then moves closer rather than away - not seeking food but just comfortable with your company then somehow all seems right with the world in that moment.

Izobretenik, bantonbuju, Michiel, everlasting has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Izobretenik (1264) 2006-09-27 4:09

Beautiful picture Kev for a lot of reasons here : the first is certainly the choice of black and white which is quite perfect to enhance the effect of water falling from his beak, then there is your framing, simple but large enough to leave the swan use almost all the space available. The contrasts and shadows are also one nice achievement here with finally the thin blur in the background. I love it.

Izo

Haymotion (1793) 2006-09-27 4:20

Très belle compo...
Qualité de photo impressionante !!
Le mouvement de l'eau est géniale et apporte beaucoup a la photo..
Et le choix du noir et blanc pour une photo de cygne et particulièrement une bonne idée
Bravo
Vince

priyasri_80 (363) 2006-09-27 4:25

Excelleent shot to show the feelings. B&W has expressed it well. The best part of the picture is the water that connects the mouth of the swan with the ocean.
Priya

Paolo (40775) 2006-09-27 4:32

Hi Kev, amazing shot, with a fantastic subject, well captured with a great exposure to have a so beautiful effect on the water.
and an amazing b/w.
thanks, ciao

barrufeto_77 (25957) 2006-09-27 5:12

Hi Kev.

My compliments for this picture. How you catch the water is lovely and the B&W fits makes a nice contrast.

Rgs, OScar

bantonbuju (48858) 2006-09-27 8:15

if this is supposed to be an intellectual post today, no tech word from me, either;
i think your note made me think over my nearly 3-years presence on te, and i think i revised my way of seeing things, but mostly the way of seeing people, ordinary people, those whom we rarely talk about, and nearly never talk with,
and this is the greatest thing i have gained being here, on te;
and you have a lion share in this "conversion" process of mine; also - by this sort of images;
j.

rbcy1974 (20746) 2006-09-27 10:02

Hello Kevin
Beautiful scene, I like the way you have caputred the ripples and frozen the water the swan is drinnking,
great black and white photo,
well done
Regards
Daniel

designsoul (21394) 2006-09-27 12:35

Yes, Kev, you are right, when an animal moves closer, you feel honoured, you feel that something is right... I feel that way at times -- have met a deer coming closer and closer and me having to back off a bit! recently--and then I feel at peace, yes.

Yes, you are also right that this country is vaaaaaaaaaaast... with all the advantages and disadvantages that brings...

And also, I like your simple beauty captured here. No bravado, no pp, "just" a graceful swan drinking and perhaps looking at you. The concentric circles the drops create are simple and elegant, like this strange bird...

Well, Kev, am off to lunch. Perhaps I shall also post the little deer I met not long ago. Unlike you, I have tons of nature shots and am often yearning for more urban settings... c'est la vie! :-)
From a lovely sunny day, on the other side of the pond,
sasa

natwald (0) 2006-09-27 13:55

Hi Kev,
I like the high shutter speed to capture the dripping water, the small depth of field, the composition and the dark edge.

Well done.

ps. I read your note this time :) Usually I don't as you tend to go on and on... but I agree, we're displaying who we are through our photographs. This isn't paid work and we can do whatever makes us happy. Finding something that's good in this world. Even if the broader subject is depressing, we can find something that will lift ourselves, and maybe others.

Michiel (91) 2006-09-27 16:14

Crowded UK? Come to Holland ;)

I love this one, I got a swan picture myself to upload soon, but there's isn't as much action in mine as in yours.

I especially like the water pulses fading into the background, slowly getting out of focus, this makes the swan stand out better too.

Watching this pic listening to David Gilmour's recent album release does help too ;)

danielswalsh (13330) 2006-09-27 20:22

Great shot Kev!

Awesome composition, good levels, and the shallow DOF has really made the scene 'intimate'.
Great note as well Kev, makes you want to sit back and take a moment out.

Nice work!
- Dan

partha (13677) 2006-09-27 21:52

Just perfect. So harmonious and excellent crop. I like the B&W version.
Partha

PeterC (2242) 2006-09-27 22:57

Kev,
A very different shot form you but a very nice change. Your note is excellent and i agree wholeheartedly. Great shot the motion of the water and the concentric circles really add so much to this shot. The eye is what makes it so powerful though you, you definitley made a connection!
Cheers
Peter

jinju (14265) 2006-09-28 3:31

Hey Kev,

theres something haunting about this shot, I think its the b/w but this doesnt feel like a regular swan photo. It lacks that postcard bauty, THANK GOD, instead the swan has a more menacing, dangerous look.

rosaline (0) 2006-09-28 4:31

Hi Kev
Interesting note and a bit deep for me this morning as I set at my desk, but definitely worth reflecting on. A great pictue and a nice mood too, with the B&W treatment. The drops of water and the concentric circles are a great detail too. Very good.
Aubrey

Furachan (0) 2006-09-28 4:54

You've always had a way with swan photography, Kev, as I recall from way back. I will indulge your wish to look beyond "just the Swan pic" and indulge my own train of thought begun in my new intro (thanks for taking the trouble...), and say that in this I see all that an advanced approach to the Martial Arts means to you, my friend, a combination of grace and steely strength...
bw,
Francis

dolin (15647) 2006-09-28 10:15

Hi Kev.
Belle image de ce cygne.
Simple, mais beau.
J'adore l'effet des ondulations dans l'eau.
Le moment est bien figé et ce fond flouté est superbe, belle dof.
Rien de spécial à te dire, à part peut-être un n/b un poil trop gris....mais rien de grave.
Bien fait
Je tente un tout petit WS
Fred

[workshop] [compare] +

Polonaise (5638) 2006-09-29 10:12

Something pinched my heart.
Your swan is so beautiful...
Wouldn't be a great idea of using your bird as a Canadian symbol, instead of the 'Canadian Goose'.
Just dreamy suggestion, Kevin.
-----------------------------
Impeccable black and white beauty.
Like Andersen's...
Like Schumann's...
Like the swan itself.
--------------------------------------
Francis said...
I said many years ago:
Photographs may lie about the world around us (usually they do).
Photographs ALWAYS say the truth about the author.
You just show me your portfolio and I'll tell who you are.
I stand behind my words.
-----------------------------

everlasting (10942) 2006-09-30 8:38

In the eye of the Swan.
A beautiful B&W iamge. The droplets of water from his beek and the circles of water provide the movement, and the well framed large S of the swan himself makes this "not just any swan shot"