Forth and Clyde Canal near Temple, Glasgow

This photo is taken from the same viewpoint as the picture I took on 27th January this year. I gave detail in that Blipfoto about the story of the canal for anyone who wants to know a bit more. I also used the same iPhone, but for this shot I zoomed in a little. I did not know there was such a facility then although the image quality deteriorates the greater the zoom. So I only used the zoom minimally. An alternative is to crop the full image without any zooming to frame the main subject matter. It is a question of experimenting really and seeing how your camera responds in different light conditions.

I was on my way to the Sports Centre for an early morning swim in the outdoor pool. (Water's still freezing, but invigorating!) It was so still and sunny that I knew the canal would look good and I stopped and took some shots into the light from the bridge towards Temple, and westwards with the sun behind. There was the odd duck around but when I dropped down to the tow path a pair of swans magically appeared in the distance cutting a swathe through the still water and advancing towards the bridge. I hared back up just in time to catch them gliding gracefully round the bend before they disappeared and were gone. A perfect moment. Between Monday's flock on the hill, yesterday's seagull on the statue and today's swans on the canal I'm having a good run of luck with birds!