Common Loon with chicks

[Cheryl Ertelt]

Common Loon
Gavia immer
Hawks, MI

The chicks in this image are one day old. I have had the priviledge of spending about 350 hours over the last 8 years on this lake with resident loons and their chicks. Every year I see new behaviours and get fresh images and the experience does not get old. The loons are habituated to the pontoon boat we photograph from and they will swim up to the boat with their chicks and even sleep right in front of us, obviously not stressed. It is a special time for me and I wanted to share one of my favorites from this month (still editing though!).

Canon IDMIIN with 500mm and 1.4 TC, ISO 400, 1/500 @ f/8. Lying on stomach on pontoon boat with camera on Wimberly head on a skimmer.

[Alfred Forns]

Sensory Overload Cheryl !!!!

Might be your favorite bird post ever !!!! Love the shadow detail, good looking whites and those two little guys just take it over the top !!! Might have given a little room for the wake !!! Big Time Congrats on this on !!!!!

[Fabs Forns]

Hurry up. Alfred, help me extend the red carpet for Cheryl :)

Great to see your work here, spectacular image, no less, the colors are superb and the chick's eyes tell a story.

looking forward to more from the series!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Welcome, Cheryl! I really like the serene mood, details, exposure and light. Thanks for sharing!

[Michael Castellano]

Beautifully composed and a good job on a tough exposure to pull off. The chicks in particular look great. A little more tweaking on mom might pay off, such as burning in the blacks a bit on the neck and forward parts of the body and brightening that red eye a bit more.

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Wow, what a beauties Cheryl! Perfect exposure on the blacks and I love the composition and the pano crop works well here.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice colors, detail, and BG. I like the similar posed heads of the babies.
Steve

[susanschermer]

This is a spectacular image. I love the story it tells and the quiet setting in which it unfolds. You are a very lucky person to have access to these beautiful birds.

[Grady Weed]

Cheryl,

As Alfred said, Big time congrats are in order here. I am a loonaholic! I spend a lot of time with these guys.Classic image done well, very well. I especially like the blacks. Perfect just like they are. Nice hues and shades on the head. Exposure is always difficult with these guys. the whites in some areas a touch warm, but it is a trade off for the details in the other areas. Excellent as it is on that one. Babies are hard to get, but you did it. All eyes are on you.

Your set up is a nice one. May I make a suggestion here. I use a kayak myself. I have always wanted to go on a pontoon. But I thought the next best thing might be inter tube. modified so you stand up in it with most of the body under water. Like a strap system so only your head and shoulders with some chest in out of the water. I have sat in the water in a chair for 4 or 5 hours waiting for them to swim right up to me. An inter tube would be a more mobile way. Maybe even tow it behind the pontoon by a 30 foot rope. Crazy?

By any means this image rocks! Please keep posting them. Welcome to BPN. You made my morning with this one.

[Glenn Bartley]

Your loon images are just stunning!!!

[Cheryl Ertelt]

Cheryl,

As Alfred said, Big time congrats are in order here. I am a loonaholic! I spend a lot of time with these guys.Classic image done well, very well. I especially like the blacks. Perfect just like they are. Nice hues and shades on the head. Exposure is always difficult with these guys. the whites in some areas a touch warm, but it is a trade off for the details in the other areas. Excellent as it is on that one. Babies are hard to get, but you did it. All eyes are on you.

Your set up is a nice one. May I make a suggestion here. I use a kayak myself. I have always wanted to go on a pontoon. But I thought the next best thing might be inter tube. modified so you stand up in it with most of the body under water. Like a strap system so only your head and shoulders with some chest in out of the water. I have sat in the water in a chair for 4 or 5 hours waiting for them to swim right up to me. An inter tube would be a more mobile way. Maybe even tow it behind the pontoon by a 30 foot rope. Crazy?

By any means this image rocks! Please keep posting them. Welcome to BPN. You made my morning with this one.

Grady,

I had my float tube with me this year and wanted to try shooting from it but I have to do it on a nonworkshop day and those were bad weather days this year. My other problem was that the pontoon does not have a ladder for me to get back on the boat and it would be a long way to be dragged back to shore. I am hoping to try the float tube next year.

[Mike Lentz]

Very nice exposure and good job getting the whole family looking at you! It looks like you darkened in the shadows just right too!

[John Chardine]

This is a beautiful image. I have never had the chance to capture loons (divers in Europe), but it will come. I agree that more room to the right would be good but then the subjects would be smaller in the frame and some marvelous detail would be lost.

[Nathan Lovas]

Beautiful light and reflection...wonderful detail in the blacks...they all look pretty relaxed for having you so close. I think we are all a little jealous. Congrats...would love to see more...Nate

[Steve Foss]

Cheryl, you've got things just right here. Nits? Nope. Just right means just right.

[Charles Glatzer]

Cheryl,

Well done, my friend! Super image.
We really nailed the loons with chicks this year, and this is a prime example.

Chas

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Outstanding capture Cheryl and the babies just send this right over the top. I don;t know how it could be any better. Love it and thanks for sharing.