Common Loon

[Dave Leroy]

In winter plumage. I took this yesterday morning on an overcast day.

I was hunkered down beside some rocks so the loon could not see my profile. The loon knew something was up and as it passed by, it saw my profile.

It began to give its loon call. I guess to either tell me I should not have tricked a nice loon, or perhaps laughing at the joke. The loon stuck around for a while longer.

It is hard to do the moment and the loon justice .

50D, 500mm +1.4TE, 1/320, f8 IS400, manual mode.

I leveled and cropped for composition.

[James Shadle]

Dave,
I'm on a laptop so I can't judge exposure that well, however it does look good on my monitor.
The image is nice and sharp, so much so that you have a bit of "sharpening halo" on the loon's neck and head.

The composition is nice. If I can't get a full reflection, I handle it the same way you did.
The horizon still looks a couple of degrees off of square.

Great job taking advantage the overcast conditions that allowed you to capture detail in the white and black parts of the loon.
I'm also a fan of the silky look the water has.

James

[nancy hazen]

Dave the slight twist of the neck and head are great. It looks as if he is listening to something or someone in this case. Loons are beautiful birds and you did a great job capturing this one.
Nancy

[Dave Leroy]

Darn. I don't like that oversharpening. I use Smart Sharpen at 100 and .2. Might need to back off a bit.

And good catch on the level James. Looking at the ripples I think it might be out a bit.

Thanks Nancy. Loon may have been hearing the shutter.

Dave

[Peter Farrell]

Very nice, Dave. I like the pose and the soft blue color of the water. It does not look over sharpened to me.
Nice overall comp as wel.
Peter

[Julie Kenward]

Dave, I think this is one of those times where the overcast lighting not only made it easier to make the exposure but set the whole tone and mood for the image. My gosh this is beautiful and serene!

I'd also look at leveling his body a bit more and fixing that halo - and then I'd print this one and smile at it REALLY BIG. It's lovely!

[Dave Leroy]

Thanks Peter and Jules.

It is really appreciated.

Dave

[Jamie Douglas]

I think you did the Loon and situation justice Dave. Very nice and exposure looks spot on. I particularly like the head angle and how the Loon is having a look at you.

Jamie