Alan Kaplan  


Swan Lake by Alan Kaplan

October 2018 - Swan Lake

October 2018 - Alan Kaplan

Original 1

October 2018 - Alan Kaplan

Original 2

October 2018 - Alan Kaplan

Original 3

About the Image(s)

The idea for the composite of the 2 swans almost making a classic swan heart came about during my futile attempt last spring to photograph 2 swans teasing me into thinking they were going to make the heart. It dawned on me as I was running out of patience that I only needed one swan to make half a heart and then leave it up to Photoshop to help me complete the heart.

First, I increased the canvas size of the swan using Photoshop’s Image > Canvas Size. Then I flipped the swan and water into the newly created space using Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontally, cloned out some of the distractions, added a little blue to the water, and manipulated the swans and the water to make the composite look like 2 different swans.

I used Photoshop to color-correct the ballerina in each photo and used Edit > Transform > Flip Vertically to create new ballerinas to serve as reflections. The Move Tool placed each flipped ballerina in the water, and I reduced the opacity to simulate a reflection.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
5 comments posted




Brad Becker   Brad Becker
Alan, This is a very nice composition. As always, your attention to the details make this a successfully executed image. My only suggestion is given the strong symmetry, a slightly off center subject with maybe a larger amount of foreground might create some novelty   Posted: 10/01/2018 21:57:35



Aavo Koort   Aavo Koort
Great composition and technically well done. Somehow it seems to need something else. Perhaps a frame or a faint background. And you are correct - you need only one swan.   Posted: 10/10/2018 13:31:06



 
your dancers are superb and make a nice addition but somehow the heart effect is lost - maybe having just the one swan might have put that across somewhat better? I am not sure. It's a lovely image all the same.   Posted: 10/13/2018 08:24:17



Peggy Nugent   Peggy Nugent
Wonderful colors. A very clean composition, so well assembled as always. Your reflections are exquisite. The dancers look quite natural and balanced, as if they are performing on the swans every day.
The symmetry is so perfect that it feels just a bit static to me, and while I like the bowed swans' heads, the form they create looks more like a 4 leaf clover than a heart to me.
You might consider a change or two to add a little tension to the image.   Posted: 10/14/2018 16:21:16
Comment Image



 
When I first saw the symmetry of the smaller image I thought.... wouldn't it be nice if something was different..... and then I saw that the two dancers were different! I also like Peggy's idea! A beautiful image!
  Posted: 10/14/2018 18:16:15