Black swan... right before he bit me

sabbath999 · Mar 14, 2008

Black swans are mean suckers, let me tell you. Kansas City Zoo.

EXIF: D80, 1/100s f/10.0 ISO400 180mm Tamron 70-300

Antarctican · Mar 14, 2008

Way to 'take one' in order to get the shot! :lol:

It's a really lovely pic...I like the light on its face, and the simple colours (red, blue and black)

Puscas · Mar 14, 2008

the black part on the right bugs me. Other than that: nice one.

did you bite back btw? Don't let that kind of swan behavior go unpunished.

pascal

sabbath999 · Mar 14, 2008

Puscas said:
the black part on the right bugs me. Other than that: nice one.

did you bite back btw? Don't let that kind of swan behavior go unpunished.

pascal

The black part on the right would be his body... I don't think they would have liked it very much if I removed the head from it...

No, I didn't bite back. I thought about kicking it, but thought better of it.

Swan bites don't really hurt very much.

Puscas · Mar 14, 2008

sabbath999 said:
The black part on the right would be his body... I don't think they would have liked it very much if I removed the head from it...

No, I didn't bite back. I thought about kicking it, but thought better of it.

Swan bites don't really hurt very much.

I figured that was part of the body, but because it's not in focus, that's not clear right away. There was no other angle possible? This way, the head doesn't stand out as much as it could, IMHO.

btw: I was told it's not their bite, but a hit from their wings that really hurts.

pascal

sabbath999 · Mar 15, 2008

Puscas said:
I figured that was part of the body, but because it's not in focus, that's not clear right away. There was no other angle possible? This way, the head doesn't stand out as much as it could, IMHO.

btw: I was told it's not their bite, but a hit from their wings that really hurts.

pascal

Actually, no there really wasn't a better angle on this one... if I got any lower there was another swan that would have shown in the water... you can see also the other problem I was dealing with if you look at how shadowed the neck was... the swan was right at the edge of a shadow of a tree... it kept peeking its head out into the sun (which make its eye and beak shine), then ducking back into the shade... I couldn't move any because I was in the one place that kind of sticks out into the water... not going wading for a shot.

One of the real problems in shooting at a place like a zoo is that you don't get to pick your spots, you have to stay "on the path" and it is often difficult to isolate the background.

I was mostly concentrating on trying to catch the sun in the critter's eye, and the body kind of just "was where it was" because he was only turning his head.

Puscas · Mar 15, 2008

sabbath999 said:
One of the real problems in shooting at a place like a zoo is that you don't get to pick your spots, you have to stay "on the path" and it is often difficult to isolate the background.

true. so true

pascal

LaFoto · Mar 15, 2008

I certainly do like the scarceness of colours, but the intensity of those that are there, the way the swan holds his head, the focus on the eye and detail of the neck feathers, the sun on the eye and beak and neck ... and his contemplating look. As if in his head something were going on like "I am going to POKE this human with the box in his face!"