Juvie Loon strutting his stuff

[Randy Stout]

This ~9 week old common loon juvie was quite proud of himself and didn't hesitate to show it off. It is relatively uncommon for an adult to flap straight on towards you, where as the kids flap in all directions! This bird and his sibling were having a grand time on this calm morning, fishing for themselves but happy to eat take out provided by mom as well

D8500 600VR. f/7.1. ISO 280. 1/2000s. Shot while sitting in the bottom of my little boat.

LR Classic, PSCC. Slight crop to level. Cleaned up a few spots in water and background. lightened the birds right side of his face slightly.

Advice and comments always appreciated,

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

The POV is the icing, great that the subject was head on and the image is symmetrical. Cool details and I love the three water droplets on the chest.

Reducing some of the blue offers a cleaner white IMHO and you could just pull the brightness up too I think Randy, just a thought.

TFS
Steve

[Brian Sump]

Randy, congrats on capturing this wonderful behavior. Really neat pose and lots of nice detail.

Aside from Steve's mention of a subtle reduction of the blues, it's my opinion that centering the image with these poses can be a very good option too.

Only other desires would be maybe a 15 degree rotation of the bird toward the light source to get more of the dark side on the face and slightly more up or lower pov to hide the shore line. It's very minor though of course compared with the great pose.

Also see some clone marks above the bird's right wing.

Overall love it. Was it from the boat?

[David Roach]

Very cool pose from a very intimate crop and POV. EXP and brightness look great on my monitor. TFS

ps
Still want to see your boat...

[John Mack]

That head and view with that pose is killer. Nice low angle as well. The crop is right on. Love the green as well.

[William Dickson]

Congrats Randy....this is a beauty...Everything just fits perfectly. No nits here....Would love to see one with the head facing left or right if you have it....

Well done

Will

[gail bisson]

Love this.
Great pose and crop.
Can you lighten the left side of face a bit more? Otherwise, no nits from me on this great frame!