Nesting

This photo I took while I was on my photography wander with Bex. We were just leaving when I spotted a swan that was nesting on a little island in the pond. It had chosen a very good place for a nest as it was very sheltered.

To make the most of the composition I had the camera in manual mode again, and I selected a shutter speed of 1/400^th of a second and an aperture of F11. I chose this shutter speed as it was fast enough to freeze any movement and also fast enough to remove any camera shake as I was using my monopod to help keep the camera steady. I left the ISO in auto and the camera chose ISO 1600 to complete the exposure. I didn’t use my flash gun as the sky was rather cloudy at the time and therefore diffused the sunlight.

To edit the photo I cropped the photo down and also changed the orientation. I did this to focus the attention onto the swan, and I prefer the vertical composition. I also increased the contrast and the sharpness. I did this to give the photo some extra punch and to clear up some ‘fuzziness’ that the high ISO had created.

Hopefully soon we will get a chance to go on a photography wander. As the weather is really starting to improve again. So we should be able to catch some wildlife in the brilliant summer sun.

Mat