Theme: Black and White bird - Common loon with yellow/green water

[Randy Stout]

Another one from last week. It was a very still day, but the birds stayed in the shade most of the time. So got to work on pushing the limits a bit.

D4 600VR c 1.4 TC f/6.3 1/320s ISO 2000 SB900 BB -2.7 EC Pedestal mounted in bottom of my little boat, Loonie Too! Bit of a challenge to get them sharp at that focal length and shutter speed, while floating in a boat :w3

Post: CS5 selective sharpening, small crop from right and top. No noise reduction. Cleaned up flash reflection in eye

Advice and comments appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Very nice portrait shot, Randy. I like the framing, placement in the frame, HA and eye contact.
Also the water with shades of green and yellow adds lot of interes.

[Doug Brown]

Nice detail in the darks. I'm a big fan of the green water. I might consider darkening the bottom third of the frame a little and toning down the whites in the neck.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks Karl and Doug.

I did a minor tweak on the brightness of the background, toned down the breast whites a sliver. Appreciate the input.

Cheers

Randy

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely portrait, Randy. I love the various shades of green. The blacks on the head and neck look great. The repost is an improvement. I took the repost into PS and burned the loon's back and its reflection and it really made a difference in making those blacks look black and toning down the whites in that area. The whites on the chest still look hot but it doesn't look as though those are recoverable. This is obviously a very difficult bird to photograph b/c of the B&W. Looking forward to more loon captures!

[Alan Murphy]

The head came out so nice. Wish for more DOF to get the breat in focus. Good work with the conditions you had.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, you seem to have these guys sorted with regards to bringing out the colour on their heads - looks great in both versions. I like your comp, low angle, and the dripping water from the underside of the neck adds interest.

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot. Love the water color, excellent detail, great low angle, and I really like the repost.
Well done.

[dankearl]

The repost looks very nice, the eye is killer.

[Doug Brown]

Well done on the repost Randy.

[Bill Dix]

Nice and sharp on the head, and the wet quality of the bill is nice. The reflection in the eye is terrific, as are the colors. Given the challenges to DOF and SS, this is really lovely.