Swans at rest: Postcard No 64

By lindywhitton on September 2, 2024

Life by the River

It's been raining for days and the river is up...really up. It's flooded the park and jetties at Franklin and the road leading to Cygnet. Our lawn is awash and the bottom of our drive has a great channel gouged out from the river of water rushing down our sloping garden.

We had one night by candlelight when the power was out and there are thousands around Tasmania who have no power tonight. There are mighty winds taking down trees and anything else that isn't secured properly.

The birds are not bothered by all this. They're enjoying having new ponds to splash around in.

These swans were happily preening themselves perched on a half submerged log.

I absolutely was fascinated by their sinous necks and the rythmic pattern they set up accross the page.

I like how the reflections anchor them to the water. I added the ripples for some movement and to help our eye travel back into the picture instead of following that diagonal line right out the corner.

I'm usually a stickler for odd numbers but I think this works because the first swan has a neutral neck position and the other three are all twisting. It kind of sets up a 1/3 rythym and brings it back to odd numbers.

I find it very useful to think a bit about the why? when something feels right but doesn't adhere to the normal rules. When I stop and analyse why? I can usually find a solid reason behind the feeling. When you do this enough it helps build your confidence to follow your feelings and worry less about rules.