Eau sauvage

A successful and well-respected photographer of my acquaintance is of the opinion (frequently and firmly expressed) that it's impossible to take an interesting photograph of a swan. Despite - or possibly probably because of - this, I keep trying to do it.

Contra-suggestive? Moi?

*Shuffles feet*

I was walking across the Old Tramway Bridge in Stratford in a howling gale this afternoon, when I saw this handsome chap begin to bathe in the churned and very muddy shallows by the nature reserve. I doubted that this was going to improve his looks or the texture of his feathers, and he must have come to the same conclusion, because he quite quickly struck out into deeper water. I'd only snapped a couple of shots before he reached the bridge and disappeared underneath, so I trotted across to the other side and waited, and luckily when he emerged he stopped for a really good splash, and I was able to get some photos from this unusual perspective.

After a minute or so he shook himself out and carried on down stream, and I had to scuttle down off the bridge and around the the rowing club to reach the south bank, so I could catch the rest of his performance from the quayside. I have a huge number of photos still to process, so more may well appear on my Facebook page in due course, but I'm going to stick my neck out and claim that this one counts as an interesting photo of a swan. I hope that you agree!