A wonderful morning

I know that getting up early can sometimes provide good light and some good views of wildlife (I hear photographers saying this all the time as well as wildlife watchers) so I left my house this morning at 5.30am looking for Roe Deer and Foxes.... I didn't get out in time as there was already someone in the area that I was looking around. I therefore went for a wander around the little reserve close by before going to the little Beck in search of the Swans: and what a show they provided. I love getting up early when you get moments when the Swans follow you down the river and are comfortable enough to do that. The only problem was that I couldn't quite get the back lit shots that I was after as the Beck has steep slopes... still, I was overjoyed to see the Swans and a Kingfisher (a bird I never thought was so close to home).

I hope that you like these shots.

The top shot was taken just before the sun got above the cloud bank and so this blue hue was cast over the Swan.

The middle shot was very nearly a frame filler (you can see that I couldn't get the reflection in). I upped the colour temperature, contrast and lightened the Swans head and neck to make sure that he/she didn't fade into the background. Finally, I cropped for composition.

The bottom shot has had the temperature increased as well as the contrast. I then cropped it to make a panorama-type shot. All these shots are how I saw the scene before me.

Matt