This Black-necked Swan signet was snuggled under its mother's wing. It looks so at peace, secure and protected. I thought it was a perfect antidote for the still tense times we are living in.
While officially things have begun opening up across the country, we are being told to stay at home as much as possible for our own safety. So I have chosen to listen to that advice and am working online in our virtual world at this time. I hope you are staying close to home and are not putting yourself or others at risk. Patience and tolerance are the watchwords of these surreal times.
This shot was taken at a bird breeding facility in North Carolina. Because the facility has large ponds with a variety of birds that are not too far away, and walkways surrounding them, it is relatively easy to get close-up images.
This black-and-white conversion was done in Lightroom, my post-processing software of choice. After converting it to black-and-white, I moved the Clarity slider to the left to reduce mid-tone contrast which gave the image a soft, dreamy look. When working on images of soft subjects, flowers, or misty scenes, I find that reducing Clarity adds just a touch of softness that enhances the overall look and feel of the image. Be careful not to go too far, however, since the image can quickly become too mushy and lose detail. For this look I usually move the Clarity slider to approximately minus 15 to 25, but this image could handle more softness, so I moved Clarity to minus 50.
TECH SPECS
1/1250 sec. at f/6.3, ISO 400. Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens with Canon 1.4X extender for an effective focal length of 280mm, on Canon 7D Mark II. Handheld.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "A healthy tomorrow, for yourself and all those you care about, is the reward for practicing safe behavior today." -- Mollie Isaacs
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