location 3 - Swans


How I took this shot

Composed to have the nesting swan in the background, this image was originally only going to feature the advancing swan. But I realised that his nesting mate was exactly lined up with him so it was possible to include her too. I liked the effect of the phtograph telling a story - you notice the advancing male first, but then your eye is drawn to the nesting mate in the background and then you know why he is being defensive.

Assessment of the image

The swans are the only white objects against a dark green background so they stand out. Having the nesting bird blurred gives a sense of perspective. Attention is drawn to the centre point of the male swan's head - the black of his beak, this is due to the contrast of the black beak against the white feathers surrounding it, and also due to the symmetry of the swan's body, with the beak centrally placed. This image is one of several that I shot that day in portrait with the nesting swan in the background. I chose to use this particular shot because you can see both of the male bird's feet clearly. In the other shots they were blurred, out of shot, or not placed squarely and this had an unbalancing effect on the overall image. The feet are important because they form part of the symmetry too.