Swan fix

There is a very tame family on swans on the lake near my home - they take bread (wholemeal of course!) from my hand. They have 3 cygnets so won't let me get too close, but I can get close enough. Trying to get all 5 birds in one frame is taxing me (there are a few sub-standard shots in my gallery) as is the exposure - whenever I shoot white swans the feathers tend to get blown out. The heads and necks are kinda brown, and the body white, and I always focus on the eye (or try to!) In almost every shot the body feathers are not very well defined. Does anybody have any advice on how to shoot white swans?!

Here is an example from today - nice pose (I think) and very close to me, this was f6.3 and 1/1600 sec, 134mm with my Oly 40-150, ISO 200. Good low, early morning, direct sunlight, possibly a slight reflection off the water. I try different settings and always have the same problem. This shot has been tinkered with and it's been reduced a lot to make for easier downloading in this forum, but I'm not too hot on PP. The original (reduced size) is here if anybody wants to have a go at it (left click on the picture):http://www.dropshots.com/spolky#date/2008-06-06/07:28:15

Thanks in advance if only for reading this far

I think your results would be much better if you shoot them in more overcast conditions, much softer light and more balance between light and shade

Yeh thanks you could be right .. I try to shoot when it's bright as the lens is not that fast, but maybe it was just too bright

Yeh shooting in the shade helps a lot, also I find that if you under expose your shot slightly the body of the swan is well exposed with the head and neck a little under, just use the dodge tool to bring detail back into the head and neck.


Mark

Ta 4 that

I've read your post, i'm going with what people have said on there already that as the sun was on them it was too bright on that day , when i took mine it was very overcast , so maybe try on a diffrent day

Thanks Mp4