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Mute Cygnets


Mute Cygnets
Photo Information
Copyright: Hilary Wilkinson (Hil) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 741 W: 11 N: 1381] (4761)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-05-23
Categories: Birds
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
Exposure: f/5.0, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Baby Animals 6 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-05-29 14:00
Viewed: 1069
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 70
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Some new arrivals on my local park, there were 6 Swans sitting on Nests this year.

Family 1
Had 6 Cygnets last year and has just hatched 8 Cygnets this year

Family 2
Had 3 Cygnets last year and has hatched 4 this year

Family 3
Had 6 Cyngnets last year and again has hatched 6

Families 4 - 6 are all still sitting on there nests

The two Cygnets in the picture are from Family 2

Many of the cultural aspects refer to the Mute Swan of Europe. Perhaps the best known story about a swan is The Ugly Duckling fable. The story centers around a duckling who is mistreated until it becomes evident he is a swan and is accepted into the habitat. He was mistreated because real ducklings are, according to many, more attractive than a cygnet, yet cygnets become swans, which are very attractive creatures. Swans are often a symbol of love or fidelity because of their long-lasting monogamous relationships. See the famous swan-related operas Lohengrin and Parsifal.

Swan maidens, shapeshifters who are able to transform from human to swan and vice versa, are a worldwide motif in folklore. The typical tale is of a swan maiden who is temporarily robbed of her powers and forced to marry a human man.

Swans feature strongly in mythology. In Greek mythology, the story of Leda and the Swan recounts that Helen of Troy was conceived in a union of Zeus disguised as a swan and Leda, Queen of Sparta.

The Irish legend of the Children of Lir is about a mother transforming her children into swans for 900 years. Myths also exist about swans themselves. It was once believed that upon death the otherwise silent Mute Swan would sing beautifully - hence the phrase swan song.

In Norse mythology, there are two swans that drink from the sacred Well of Urd in the realm of Asgard, home of the gods. According to the Prose Edda, the water of this well is so pure and holy that all things that touch it turn white, including this original pair of swans and all others descended from them. The poem Volundarkvida, or the Lay of Volund, part of the Poetic Edda, also features swan maidens.

In the Finnish epic Kalevala, a swan lives in the Tuoni river located in Tuonela, the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan would perish as well. Jean Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite based on Kalevala, with the second piece entitled Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen). Today five flying swans are the symbol of the Nordic Countries and the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is the national bird of Finland.

In Latin American literature, the Nicaraguan poet Ruben Darío (1867-1916) consecrated the swan as a symbol of artistic inspiration by drawing attention to the constancy of swan imagery in Western culture, beginning with the rape of Leda and ending with Wagner's Lohengrin. Darío's most famous poem in this regard is Blasón - "Coat of Arms" (1896), and his use of the swan made it a symbol for the Modernismo poetic movement that dominated Spanish language poetry from the 1880s until the First World War. Such was the dominance of Modernismo in Spanish language poetry that the Mexican poet Enrique González Martínez attempted to announce the end of Modernismo with a sonnet provocatively entitled, Tuércele el cuello al cisne - "Wring the Swan's Neck" (1910).

Swans are revered in many religions and cultures, especially Hinduism. The Sanskrit word for swan is hamsa or hansa, and it is the vehicle of many deities like the goddess Saraswati. It is mentioned several times in the Vedic literature, and persons who have attained great spiritual capabilities are sometimes called Paramahamsa ("Great Swan") on account of their spiritual grace and ability to travel between various spiritual worlds. In the Vedas, swans are said to reside in the summer on Lake Manasarovar and migrate to Indian lakes for the winter, eat pearls, and separate milk from water in a mixture of both. Hindu iconography typically shows the Mute Swan. It is wrongly supposed by many historians that the word hamsa only refers to a goose, since today swans are no longer found in India, not even in most zoos. However, ornithological checklists clearly classify several species of swans as vagrant birds in India.

One Chinese idiom about swans is how "a toad wants to eat swan flesh!". This idiom is used derisively on men who desire women who are beyond their station in terms of wealth, social class or beauty.

The Black Swan is the faunal emblem of the Australian state of Western Australia and swans are featured on the coat of arms of Canberra, the Australian capital.

Swans play a role in LucasArts' graphic adventure computer game LOOM. In the game, swans are shown to be what becomes of members of the Guild of Weavers who are either banished or die. They transcend to a higher plane of existence and become swans. The main character Bobbin's mother was also named Cygna, which is a variation of the word cygnus.

Today swans are used symbolically or as brands. The Sydney Swans AFL Team uses a swan as its club emblem/mascot, and Swansea City A.F.C.'s mascot is a swan called Cyril the Swan.

The Bonny Swans is a song from Loreena McKennitt's 1994 album, The Mask and Mirror.

Notes from Wilkepedia.com
nglen, mikou, JoseMiguel, Proframe, gypsygirl58, marhowie, Mariol, horia, Debz, Alex99, hester, angybone, Necipp, jeanpaul, Ken52, uleko, alguazul has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Hilary,
2x fluffy; both are sharp and have detail in these difficult 'white' parts...
Well composed.
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1875 W: 2 N: 5064] (19360)
  • [2007-05-29 14:26]

Hi Hilary. If you could have points for the notes you should get some. What cute Cygnets, Have not seen any yet this year. very good detail and focus ,with a good low POV. TFS.well done
Nick..

  • Great 
  • carmia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 221 W: 2 N: 119] (1879)
  • [2007-05-29 14:27]

I very like your composition. Very good. Beautiful nature photo. Good work!!

  • Great 
  • mikou Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 863 W: 73 N: 1348] (5265)
  • [2007-05-29 14:46]

Hi Hilary.
Lovely capture of this cute "duo".Very nice composition with beautiful pose both young swan.Very good focus and DOF with perfect sharpness details on both.Superb done!
TFS,with greeting Milos.

  •      
  • trinko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 610 W: 83 N: 324] (4310)
  • [2007-05-29 15:14]

great focus wonderful expression on the left bird good water ripples and nice DOF

Hello Hilary,
This is a sweet capture with very details and nice movement on the water. I like those tones of colors a lot. Their pose and composition are superb! It almost look like a B7W picture :) Thanks,
Claudine

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1988 W: 6 N: 1927] (12963)
  • [2007-05-29 15:51]

Hola Hilary,
preciosa captura,
maravillosos detalles,
nitidez y perfecto pov,
colores y texturas agradables...
saludos TFS

Hi Hillary,
What a cute capture of this couple of chicks!
I like so much your low and frontal POV, that let us enjoy this pleasant image of this young swans.
Very good your exposure settings, and the waterdrops floating around the birds.
Congratulations and thanks for share it.
My best regards,
JM

Hello Hilary,
This is a lovely shot! The cygnets have been captured in all their baby softness. Yet the focus is sharp and they are detailed. Even the tiny droplets of water are evident on their feathers!
Kind regards,
Bev :-)

Lovely pair of Cygnets Hilary.
They are so cute and adoreble.
Excellent sharpness, clarity and exposure.
The contrast between the lighter colors of the Cygnets and the darker colors of the water is very beautiful.
I personally would have cropped about an inch of top to loose the lighter part overthere.
To me that lighter part is attracting the eye a bit to much imho and that way there's less attention on the main subject.
Kind regards, Harry

Hi Hil...Good composition and position of the cygnets look good. Particularly like the contrast provided by the "inky" looking water. Best, Brat.

Hi Hilary,
Lovely capture of these cygnets! Excellent sharpness and details and so soft and fluffy! Good POV and I like the ripples on the water too! I also like the song by Loreena McKennitt. Well done and TFS
Cheers Tina :-)

  • Great 
  • demeve Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 505 W: 8 N: 1048] (3884)
  • [2007-05-29 20:01]

Hi Hilary, wonderful I must say, the picture is so beautiful is out of this world. Congratulations in a fine capture of this cygnets, great POV, soft composition, and excellent collors.. well done

  • Great 
  • Perro Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 46 W: 0 N: 59] (551)
  • [2007-05-29 21:46]

Hello Hilary,
This is a lovely capture of these cygnets.
Your composition is excellent.
I like very much the way you have framed the picture.
The focus is sharp and very much detailed.
The soft color is great.
Congradulations and thank you for sharing!
My beat regards,
Janette

Hi Hilary,
A very nice composition, I like it. High cute factor, excellent POV. Everything looks great Hilary.
Howard

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-05-29 23:02]

Hello Hil

A wonderful shot with an amazingly high cuteness factor.The focus and details are sharp.Excellent exposure.The side by side pose is perfect.Congratulations ,great timing to get one like this.TFS

Hi Hilary,
Wonderful picture. Cygnets are so cute! Very nice reflections on the water.
The parks in UK are fantastic. I wish we have something like that in Canada.
TFS, Mario.

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2037 W: 212 N: 3625] (12074)
  • [2007-05-30 2:27]

Hi Hilary

and nice to see another splendid photo from you again :)
These two little fellows are adorable!!! They really look terrific and contrast superbly with that darker reflections from the water, making such a lovely visual impact.
The details on them are also outstanding and the DOF here is great!
Wonderful work!

Bravo and TFS
Horia

  • Great 
  • Debz Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 582 W: 0 N: 866] (3283)
  • [2007-05-30 5:27]

Hi Hilary, this is a superb compositon of this pair of Cygnets. They are in perfect focus and sharp but retaining their fluffyness. Great POV and perfect exposure. Great shot.
tfs
debz

  • Great 
  • Maite Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 978 W: 64 N: 1189] (4884)
  • [2007-05-30 10:15]

Oooh! What a lovely and cute picture!
How much I like it, Hilary!! Sorry that I've got my favourits complete, but this is one of my favourits no doubt.
It's perfect in all senses: sharpness, lighting, color, POV, composition... Really gorgeous!
Congratulations and thank you very much for sharing.
Greetings
Maite

Hello Hilary,
Very sharp, detailed photo of this little swans. Great colours and contrast against the darker water. Maybe a little cropp from above and below does the photo good: still more attention to the swans. I like the low POV.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2975 W: 148 N: 4398] (14271)
  • [2007-05-30 13:04]

Hi Hilary.
You have taken a terrific sweet picture of these amazing creatures. Tremendous reflection of their youth. Fantastic reproduction of their fluffy clothes and expression of the faces. Lighting and colour palette, image of water are perfect too. Superb, touching art work. Bravo.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • hester Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1464 W: 18 N: 2950] (10828)
  • [2007-05-30 14:46]

so cute. Sweet shot Hilary. I love the framing of this shot. Nice details on the fluffy feathers and good light

TFS

Karan

Beautiful downy little creatures! How adorable! You've captured the detail down to the water droplets on the little ones.

(I ADORE Loreena McKennitt!)

Hello Hil a cute shot one of the cutest on trek in my opinion, lovely POV I like the composition. The dof is good great note! tfs rgds Necip.

Hi Hilary
Très belle et intéressante composition photographique bien réalisée pour ces adorables petits cygnes. Jolies couleurs et bonne netteté
Merci et au revoir...JP

  • Great 
  • Ken52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 658 W: 98 N: 1248] (4145)
  • [2007-05-30 23:18]

Beautiful photo. I really like you low POV. The details are sharp but the photo has a pleasing soft effect. Very nice exposure. Great composition.

Hi Hilary
This is a lovely capture of these cygnets.
Your composition is excellent. I like very much the way you have framed the picture.
The focus is sharp and very much detailed.
Congratulations and TFS
Regards.
Jorge

  • Great 
  • iris Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 361 W: 39 N: 664] (2071)
  • [2007-05-31 6:54]

I tell you Hilary, Thsi shot coul;dnt get original than this, a very candid moment so wel composed...the water swirls around and the lighting is simply perfect.
Very well done
TFS & Cheers

Ah! qu'ils sont beaux en focus et belles couleurs.
Bravo
Marie

Very cute cygnet shot. You got the framing right - and the whites are ok.

A very nice photo, very sharp and with a good detail of the whitish textures. Composition with these two heads arising from a common cotton ball is very interesting. A beautiful image.

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2342 W: 164 N: 7019] (22222)
  • [2007-06-01 3:26]

Hello Hilary,
Lovely capture of these cute cygnets! I love their expressions and their fluffiness! Excellent sharpness and very fine colours. The refelctions and the movement of the water is beautiful too. Well done!
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1559 W: 233 N: 5222] (18351)
  • [2007-06-01 5:31]

Hi Hillary,
a beautiful pair.
Great composition and POV.
Well done,
Joey

HELLO HILARY, wow, I THINK I MAY HAVE FOUND MY FAVORITE!! GREAT PHOTO, EXCELLENT SHARPNESS AND CLARITY, VERY GOOD DEPTH OF FIELD AND GOOD DETAILS, GREAT COMPOSITION AND POV, WELL DONE!!
ANGELA

Hi Hilary,
really cute this one, so adorable they are!
Nice color and sharpness on the ducks.
Well done and TFS
Vanessa

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