Sharon Prislipsky, APSA, EPSA  


Cygnet Splash by Sharon Prislipsky, APSA, EPSA

February 2025 - Cygnet Splash

February 2025 - Sharon Prislipsky, APSA, EPSA

Original

About the Image(s)

In mid-January we made our annual trip to photograph the southern flock of Trumpeter swans that hangs out in central Arkansas from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. We have been doing this for so many years that it is getting difficult to capture an image that is different from what I have done in the past. This image was captured with the Canon R5 and Canon 100-500mm lens handheld. Settings were ISO 800; 1/3200 sec.;f/9.0.
I think there are other crops that could work for this image but I chose the square because it uses the Golden Spiral to guide the viewer's eye through the image. I flipped the image, made global adjustments, adjusted the white balance and tweaked the tone curve in Lightroom. I lightened the shadows and brought down a few highlights in photoshop. I used the polarizing filter and Pro Contrast in Colr Efex to finish the image. Thanks in advance for any suggestions for improvement.


4 comments posted




Pamela Hoaglund   Pamela Hoaglund
I think you captured a great moment of action and your shutter speed was high enough to freeze the flying water. The goose looks sharp especially around the head and eye. Usually when people flip an image it is so the subject looks to the right, so I'm curious about your decision to flip the other way. I don't think either way is right or wrong just wondering what your reasoning was.   Posted: 02/06/2025 00:52:04
Sharon Prislipsky   Sharon Prislipsky
Honestly, Pam, my decision to flip it was more of a "gut" reaction or feeling than any adherence to rules of composiiton. I was thinking about the Golden Spiral which entails an arc that connects opposite corners and to me it just seemed flow in that direction.   Posted: 02/06/2025 16:42:47



Mike Cohen   Mike Cohen
Wonderful image and post processing, particularly your handling of the highlights. I like this crop a lot. The shape of the splashes add a lot for me. I'm also curious as to your flipping but think, for whatever reason, it looks best the way you handled it. I often flip mine for the action to go from left to right primarily because I prefer my logo to go in the lower left and not be in front of movement. If this were mine, I'd leave it flipped and put my logo in the upper right. Bravo!   Posted: 02/06/2025 10:42:28
Sharon Prislipsky   Sharon Prislipsky
Thanks, Mike. I saw that the lines more or less created a golden spiral, which of course could go in either direction. But it felt more natural and organiz to me this way.   Posted: 02/06/2025 16:45:13



 

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