This article features 31 consecutive handheld images showing a swan landing on snow at LaSalle Park in Burlington Ontario. We had a major snowstorm on Monday last week that dumped about 45 cm (~17.7 inches) of snow on the town in which I live. Some quite cold temperatures followed the storm. As a result I hadn’t been out with my camera for a number of days.
It was -14 Celsius (~ 7 Fahrenheit) when I left home this morning, but at least I had decent light for part of the day. Making arrangements earlier in the week, I met a friend at LaSalle Park. We both hoped we’d find some birds out and about. We had been at LaSalle Park for almost an hour and a half when this opportunity to photograph this swan landing on snow presented itself.
As you review the EXIF data you’ll note that I adjusted the focal length of my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm lens a few times while capturing this run of photographs. I used Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking in combination with Pro Capture L, utilizing a single AF point. My frame rate was set to 18 fps. I shot in Manual mode with Auto-ISO. My Pre-Shutter Frames was set to 10 and my Frame Limiter was turned off.
All photographs are displayed as full frame captures without any cropping, then resized for web use. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to capture a swan landing on snow.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
OM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 35.1 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 33.8 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 33.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 33 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 32.8 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 32 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 33.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 30.6 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 29.3 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.2 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 25.1 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 261 mm, efov 522 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 26.7 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 235 mm, efov 470 mm, f/8.4, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 26 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 235 mm, efov 470 mm, f/8.3, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 26.5 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 210 mm, efov 420 mm, f/8.3, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.6 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 210 mm, efov 420 mm, f/8.1, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 28 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-640, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 26.6 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.9 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 25.9 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 19.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 19.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 24.8 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 26.5 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 27.9 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 23.9 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 24.5 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 23.2 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 19.4 metresOM-D E-M1X + M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS with M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter @ 195 mm, efov 390 mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO-800, Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, Pro Capture L, full frame capture, subject distance 20.9 metres
I’ve noticed that sometimes when I adjust the focal length of my lens while capturing a longer run of images the subject distance estimates done by my E-M1X can be thrown off a little bit. This doesn’t concern me as the variances tend to be reasonably small.
Capturing this extended run of a swan landing on snow was a good practice exercise.
Technical Note:
Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process. Crops are noted. This is the 1,122 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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2 thoughts on “Swan Landing on Snow”
Very nice set! and helpful too. Thank you.
I am starting to like the C AF + Tracking for birds. Sometimes, the tracking rectangle and the single AF point I chose are not in sync. Did you experience this?
I love all the details you managed to retaln. What was your approach to metering this subject?
I use C-AF +TR as this is a requirement for Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking. Before Bird AI I was using C-AF as I found this was more consistent and accurate than C-AF +TR. After some experimentation I then began using Cluster Area AF which I found was better than either C-AF or C-AF +TR for the style of birds-in-flight photography.
I’ve been using Bird AI exclusively for quite a while so I really don’t have any reliable memories of using C-AF +TR without Bird AI.
All of the images in this article were captured using the entire frame for metering which is what I use most often for my photography. Depending on subject matter and lighting I will change metering when needed.
I use DxO PhotoLab 4 as my RAW processor. As part of my standard processing approach I use the DxO Smart Lighting Spot Weighted adjustment with all of my photographs. I find this function particularly helpful to balance out an exposure, or help to bring out highlight or shadow details.
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Very nice set! and helpful too. Thank you.
I am starting to like the C AF + Tracking for birds. Sometimes, the tracking rectangle and the single AF point I chose are not in sync. Did you experience this?
I love all the details you managed to retaln. What was your approach to metering this subject?
Hi Palani,
I use C-AF +TR as this is a requirement for Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking. Before Bird AI I was using C-AF as I found this was more consistent and accurate than C-AF +TR. After some experimentation I then began using Cluster Area AF which I found was better than either C-AF or C-AF +TR for the style of birds-in-flight photography.
I’ve been using Bird AI exclusively for quite a while so I really don’t have any reliable memories of using C-AF +TR without Bird AI.
All of the images in this article were captured using the entire frame for metering which is what I use most often for my photography. Depending on subject matter and lighting I will change metering when needed.
I use DxO PhotoLab 4 as my RAW processor. As part of my standard processing approach I use the DxO Smart Lighting Spot Weighted adjustment with all of my photographs. I find this function particularly helpful to balance out an exposure, or help to bring out highlight or shadow details.
Tom