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Yummie! Grass tastes goooood!


Yummie! Grass tastes goooood!
Photo Information
Copyright: Pieter van der Horst (sAner) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1648 W: 79 N: 1438] (4742)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-06-10
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon EOS 350D, Sigma AF 100-300/f4.0 EX APO, B+W 82mm UV-HAZE
Exposure: f/4, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2005-06-17 18:15
Viewed: 1520
Points: 77
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This is another shot of one of the Whooper Swans my girlfriend and I met in the Lelystad Nature Park last Friday. I posted THIS picture of his girlfriend earlier, but now it is his turn. This Swan looooved the fresh grass and ate his belly round. :) I hope you like this picture as much as I do.

This is a Whooper Swan (Cygnus Cygnus). It's common name refers to the loud ‘whooping’ calls that it produces. This large white Swan tends to hold its neck erect whilst swimming and that's a very funny sight, particularly if you are used to seeing mute Swans swim. In spring and summer, some adults may develop rusty ‘stained’ plumage on the neck and head caused by the iron-rich water on which they live. It can be distinguished from the smaller Bewick’s Swan in that the wedge-shaped yellow colouration of the bill extends beyond the nostrils, with the rest of the bill being black; in Bewick’s Swans the yellow patch is small and rounded. Juveniles have greyish brown plumage and a pink and black bill.

Whooper Swans breed across northern Eurasia. Most of the Whooper Swans that spend the winter in Britain and Ireland originate from the population that breeds in Iceland. The population breeding in north-western Europe winters in Denmark and parts of Germany, and there are two western Siberian breeding populations; one winters in the eastern Mediterranean while the other migrates to the area around the Caspian Sea. In Britain a few pairs occasionally try to breed in Scotland, but with varying success.

Whooper Swans make use of a wider range of habitats than Bewick’s Swans. They are found on lowland farmland close to the coast, on flooded fields, mudflats, lakes and small ponds and lochs and will graze on farmland in winter. They breed in boggy habitats with pools and small lakes where there are plenty of reeds and other sheltering vegetation.

Info from: http://www.arkive.org/
-------------------------------------------------------
Hit me when you feel like it! I am wearing my Helmet and body protection. Seriously; write what you think. I can use the lesson and I can really take the criticism. Your criticism is highly appreciated. Thank you!

Shutter Speed: 1/200
F-stop: f/4
Focal length: 250mm
Tripod: no
Flash: no
PDP, Fisher, BiRiNARES, chiliu, dew77, liquidsunshine, Janice, Comandante, marhowie, AndyB, red45, TAZ, hummingbird24, rlortie, Signal-Womb, Luc, joshack, cedryk, pablominto, RAP has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To sandpiper2: There is absolutely no noise on my monitorsAner 2 06-21 02:47
To elizemeijer: No you're not picky!sAner 1 06-19 03:19
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2951 W: 366 N: 3779] (11763)
  • [2005-06-17 18:24]

Hi Pieter, excellent shot. I love the strong sense of depth and the colours and composition are great. Really good job. Well done.

Hello Pieter

Very Nice. Comes out from the picture. Very nice light and sharpness.
Excellent composition.
TFS

  • Great 
  • Fisher Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1540 W: 309 N: 2234] (8915)
  • [2005-06-17 19:20]

Beauty.
Excellent portrait and well done on this composition. Super shot.

Mike

Very good!
He's so funny!
The composition is very intersting and the colors are very clear.
Thanks
Jo

Great capture Pieter,
Excellent detail, colours, sharpness and composition..
Thanks for posting, well donne.

Hi Pieter, great picture.
I like the shallow DOF. Good detials, nice light and colours.
Good POV and well composed.
Great work.

  • Great 
  • edji Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 83 W: 8 N: 22] (426)
  • [2005-06-18 0:05]

Very nice picture. The sharpness is perfect! Well done!

  • Good 
  • Deeb Silver Star Critiquer [C: 48 W: 0 N: 5] (14)
  • [2005-06-18 0:27]

I only wish I knew how to shoot like this! I really like it.

Fantastic portrait!
Nice composed,colour,lighting.Great shot!
TFS!

Superbe photo Pieter !
MAgnifique, bonne gestion de la profondeur de champs.
Nico.

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2005-06-18 3:37]

Hello Pieter!
Very nice shot.DOF,BG,lighting,expression on face,3D effect and composition are wonderful.TFS...:-)

Nice portrait shot Pieter,
Good colours, nice sharp detail and good DOF.
Well composed. Have a good weekend my friend.
Thanks for posting

  • Great 
  • Ina Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 118 W: 6 N: 101] (767)
  • [2005-06-18 4:46]

This is sure great... I love this funne portrait... Colors and ligtht is very fine and composition funny... TFS...Ina...

Love the pose, the way the swan is leaning into the frame... well done.

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3464 W: 145 N: 5943] (17794)
  • [2005-06-18 5:23]

I can't find anything wrong with this one Pieter. You'll just have to try worse!
Good capture and the expression of Mr Swan looking at you is priceless. Nice and sharp. Well done.

Hi,
What a lovely shot Pieter, Great detail and lovely composition, I know that is really very hard shot, beacause they moving very fast. Great job you done.
Latif

Now here is a guy with attitude! He's so tough he eats the grass. Nice portrait Pieter. Super POV. Tack sharp allowing for awesome detail. I love the markings on his beak. Top shot. Thanks.

Hello Pieter!
What a cute pose!DOF,details,framing and composition are excellent.Thanks for sharing.

Good portrait, everything looks nice and sharp. The colours look god to me, but the background seems to have a lot of noise on my monitor.

Hello Pieter! Great sharpness and details where it counts.. Efficient use of F/4..Great exposure and colors..Very good work!

  • Great 
  • puciu Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 519 W: 0 N: 16] (2603)
  • [2005-06-18 12:58]

Fantastic shot, excellent portrait.
Very well done.
Robert.

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2306 W: 324 N: 4306] (16856)
  • [2005-06-18 13:10]

Pieter, congratulations, once more. It's not necessary to hit you, you don't need to use your helmet.

I do enjoy the dof here - focus on the head is spot on. A very nice bg and a great contrast. The composition is excellent too.

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3100 W: 234 N: 5930] (20016)
  • [2005-06-18 13:19]

I love the angle of his neck on this one, Pieter. The head is just perfect on all counts. The expression on his face is priceless. Congratulations on an excellent shot. TFS. : )

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1586 W: 32 N: 1350] (3980)
  • [2005-06-18 15:56]

Hello Pieter,
A lovely portrait.
Excellent colours and great DOF,the pose is perfect.
Nice one,very well done!

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2816 W: 75 N: 7977] (26975)
  • [2005-06-18 17:12]

Ha, ha, very funny pose Pieter ;-) Blurred BG, sharpness, details - all great. DOF is superb also.

Hallo Pieter :)

I love the look on his face. He almost looks guilty for eating grass ;) Love the details on the beak, but i would've like to see the tip of the beak sharp too. Am i being too picky ?? ;)

Fijne dag verder
Elize

  • Great 
  • optic Gold Star Critiquer [C: 322 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2005-06-19 7:03]

WONDERFULL!
Hello Pieter, you did a great portrait of swan i like the composition & razorsharp details, colours & sharpness are great, dof splendid!

Today i'll be at Cap Tourmente Wildlife area, they are many Hummingbirds... :-)

Have a nice day!
Christian

This is a really great capture, Pieter, especially the sense that the swan is peeking in on us.
Great detail, DOF, BG and colors.
Well done on this wonderful composition, thank you.

Great portrait Pieter! Perfect DOF, POV and background. I like your simple harmonized frame too. Excellent composition. TFS.

Very good visual effect with the shallow DOf. Great details and clarity. Very well done Pieter.

  • Great 
  • TAZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2385 W: 50 N: 3186] (10922)
  • [2005-06-20 3:35]

Nice portrait for this beautiful swan ! Good colors and DOF. Thanks for sharing Pieter.

Excellent portrait shot Pieter, great sharpness and DOF, well captured too. thanks for sharing

Hi Pieter!
I love your portraits ;-) It is really superb. I'm waiting for you autoportrait in intro. You are good in that ;-)

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2052 W: 315 N: 4301] (14719)
  • [2005-06-23 22:08]

Hello Pieter!
Personal assessment of the photo: great.
Strong visual impact.
Aptness of the photo for the site: excellent.
Personal assessment of the note: complete.
Thank you very much for sharing.

The angle of the head and the sharpness on only the very front is very well done. The focus is so tight, the neck is almost disappearing. Background colors are excellent and the grass adds just the right decisive moment. Did you blur everything in post? The only concern I have is that the focus is so tight that the grass is starting to blur.

  • Great 
  • cedryk Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 969 W: 57 N: 1662] (5072)
  • [2005-11-21 20:57]

Hi Pieter,
Fantastic portrait of the Whooper Swan!!! Great POV, exposition and colours!
Best greetings,
Michal

Hi Pieter,
Funny guy sooo well captured!
Looks like he's also saying... "stay away while I'm eating!"
Superb textures and details in that head!
Greetings,
Pablo -

Found another one I hadn't critiqued! ;)
This is a very good job, Pieter. Excellent DOF, and you can clearly see the focus point is on the eyes. Perfect exposure as well. You've also done well with the composition, I always have a hard time picking a compo that I like with head and neck shots, because if you have the eyes at 2/3rds, the whole subject looks central. If you have the whole body at 1/3rd, the eyes are central. You can't win! This looks nicely balanced, though.

  • Great 
  • RAP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2524 W: 345 N: 2373] (7405)
  • [2006-09-03 6:20]

Continuando mi visita por tu colección Pieter, encontré este perfecto primer plano con un bello POV .
El desenfoque gradual del cuello brinda un agradable efecto, con un encuadre y trasfondo muy adecuados.
Una gran presentación, sin dudas.
Con admiración... Ricardo

Continuing my visit for your collection Pieter, I found this perfect close up with a beautiful POV.
The gradual out of focus of the neck offers a pleasant effect, with a very appropriate framing and background.
A great presentation, without doubts.
With admiration... Ricardo

... later

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