Originally Published January 28th, 2019
Sometimes nature and the seasons are not your friends when it comes to photography. This is especially true in Iowa during the summer when photographing near water. Once the temperature rises, algae start to bloom in the waterways and can destroy a beautiful picture.
All hope is not lost though and this picture is a perfect example. I probably spent an hour attempting to alter the color of the water without damaging the swan. I was never able to get a non-green color version that I liked. I loved the picture and didn’t want to trash it because how often can you catch a swan in full display with a perfect wave and reflection?
Finally, I started playing with the different sepia and monochrome options in my post-processing software. As soon as I switched to monochrome, I knew I’d found my answer.
The monochrome version of this photo was displayed at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon in 2017 and I have a 24×36 print as the focal point of my living room.
