Swan Art With Photshop

Last week we went for a lovely walk along the Thames at Purley on Thames. We love it there as there is a lock to sit by with an ice cream and watch the novice boaters struggling. Walking along the river we saw all sorts of waterbirds and a heron busy fishing. Swans came up to see if we had any food for them. They went away disappointed but I did get a chance to take close up photos. I don't think they were impressed! I like to play with Adobe Photoshop and see what effects I can create. Sometimes it's useful to get an effect to use in a piece of art, simplifying the picture without the effort. I used to think it was cheating until I learnt about the Camera Obscura. I remember watching a programme about Canaletto, (who I thought had drawn his amazing buildings with such accuracy), and being shocked that he had used a camera obscura to copy the scene in front of him. I saw one of the cameras at "The Vyne" a National Trust House near us and looked at how it reflected the scene on the riverbank opposite onto the paper. All you needed to do was to trace the image it showed on the paper. I decided that if the Old Masters used aids to "cheat" then I'll use all the photographic aids that I can.