The Uncommon Loon

[Randy Stout]

I continue to be amazed by the variety of behaviors that the "common loon" can display. This one was imaged in northern Michigan. It had its head under water in a peering pose (looking for fish) for a few seconds, then lifted its wings with the head still under water, and eventually popped its head up like this.

D300 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC f/5.6 1/2000s ISO 800 from my boat

Post: PS CS4 noise reduction on background, selective sharpening, 10% crop for composition

Should have gone with smaller aperture for greater DOF.

Advice always appreciated

[Ofer Levy]

WOW !! This is brilliant!!! Fantastic pose, low angle and techs! Awesome work!!

[Alfred Forns]

Love it as presented and not much more needs to be said !! Big Congrats Randy !!!

[Harshad Barve]

this is winner all the way Randy , Agreed with Alfred here , Big congrats
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, you have certainly nailed this. Great symmetry on the wings, and I like the exposure and detail. Killer BG. One of your best sir. Congrats.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, angle and BG. If anything, I would sharpen the bird a tad more and tone down the whites.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Awesome low angle with good exposure and sharp detail. Like the eye

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Randy, this is awesome. so cool. what a pose! loved the low angle and comp.

[Craig Brelsford]

I don't see any problems with dof. This photo is a pleasure to look at.

[Grace Scalzo]

Super image, Randy with an interesting pose and complimentary background. Is it an illusion, or do you need the slightest bit of ccw? DOF looks fine, what do you see that could be improved?

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Much appreciated.

The DOF concern has to do with how the shot evolved. I was originally focused on the shoulder at the base of the wings, because the head was underwater. When he popped his head up, I was still focused on that area, and didn't switch the focus point fast enough. He held this pose for less than a second.

Because of this miss on my part, the head isn't as sharp as I would like. I have done some selective sharpening there, but wish I had been at f/8.

But, of course I might have gotten more motion blur. Its always a tradeoff!

Happy to have witnessed this behavior.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Is it an illusion, or do you need the slightest bit of ccw?

That was one of my second thought too when first viewing the image...with the first being "COOL!!"

Way wicked pose...congrats Randy on a fine image:)

[Michael Stern]

This image makes you want to keep looking at it....unsual pose VERY well done!!
Your DOF looks ok to me!!! Love the BG....

[arash_hazeghi]

nice low angle and pose Randy, good colors. overall looks a bit soft on my screen.

[denise ippolito]

Fantastic pose and capture Randy. I like the low angle and the BG colors are lovely.:)

[Asif Khan]

Beautiful Shot..loved it ! The angle, the action ...everything is just perfect. You should nominate this for bird behavior category of next wildlife photographer of the year contest. Great work.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Lovely low angle and behaviour. Agree on smaller aperture but still a great shot!