Loon Flap

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

A bit of background. This was taken at Lac le Jeune in June of this year. For those that have been there, Wally was kind enough to operate one of the smaller boats and take me out for a sunset shoot (all the big boats were taken up by workshops). I used an 800 on a 1D4 for this image and in retrospect it was probably a bit long (little cropping on this image, about a 1.7 degree rotation correction). I got a burst of images as we drifted by this Loon flapping. The next image in the sequence (which I will post below shortly) with both wings visible used to be my favorite, but I am starting to prefer this one because the background is a little cleaner.

1D4, 800 f/5.6 IS, f/8, 1/4000s, ISO 1250. Some local dodging and burning on the body to accentuate details.

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Here's the next image in the sequence (it hasn't gotten the same final tweaking this one has though). See what I mean about the background?

http://akimagery.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v14/p10927521.jpg

[Arthur Morris]

Super sharp. Perfect EXP and flapping pose. Sweet light and BKGR. All in all, superb.

How is Derrick? Is the food still great? What was the chick situation last June?

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Derrick is doing well and the food is great (the boxed lunches, buffets and sit down dinners, all of it). He offered a great photographers package which included meals and a really good orientation where he took me out and showed me a few nests and some other spots.

The chick situation wasn't that great. Derrick said that they had all hatched in the first week of June and basically there were no other chicks hatched since then. He went out searching all the local lakes and the situation was the same. My first day there, there were a couple of nesting pairs with chicks, though large just barely able to 'freeload', so I got a couple of images of that. In subsequent days the chicks were mostly then just following mom and dad around.

[Paul Lagasi]

Both the images are very nice captures, the colors, sharpness and water colors are lovely on the first one....congrats from a boat with the 800.


If these were mine I would copy the wing from the second image and add canvas (on the right) to first image and paste....I tried it and it makes for a killer image.
I know some people are not into photoshoping their images so I don't post my results.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Nice pose and expo here Aravind, loved the light too..

[Manjeet & Yograj Jadeja]

Loved the lighting and pose.
excellent shot

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Thanks guys.

Paul, thats a very interesting idea. I typically don't cut and paste parts of birds but I'll try out what you suggest just to see what kind of results I can get from it.

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Took your advice Paul and after a bunch of PS work, here is the result. I'm happy enough with the result, but its unlikely I would exhibit it since it goes beyond my own comfort level of how much Photoshop work to do with wildlife images.

[Paul Lagasi]

I totally understand Aravind...we have to stay with what we're comfortable with...:)...good work on the image

[Duane Noblick]

I love the work you did on the last image and a great suggestion. It's not something I would do but sometimes it's nice to see what can be done just for kicks. All three images are excelelnt with the first being my favorite. Great angle.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info Aravind. I like the first one best. The last one is fine to offer for sale as stock as long as it it labeled to indicate what was done.

We are up to an astounding 21 BAA folks for the South Georgia trip in OCT 2012 :)

ps: you are quite proficient at Photoshop; no shock there :) (Aravind works for Adobe as does Alan Lillich.)

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Glad to hear it Artie. That South Georgia trip is going to be spectacular. A full 10-11 days at South Georgia, another 3-4 at the Falklands and all the talented photographers, oh my!

[Paul Guris]

With Photoshop skills like that, you can literally build your own depth of field. I have mixed feelings about that, but the result is stunning.

[RAM MALLYA]

Amazing sharpness and details with a superb BG

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Superb exposure and detail. The pose is priceless. I see a halo over the bill and the head. Thanks for sharing

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Arvind, this is one of the best Loon shots I have seen. Stunning stuff...the low angle, exposure, sharpness, crop....terrific work. If anything, I'd remove the extra catchlight. Thx for sharing...and please continue doing so here at BPN.

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Good point about the extra catch light. I'll work on that tonight. Thanks.

[Randy Stout]

Aravind:

As an occasional loon photographer, I appreciate your capture, beautiful pose, sharpness and detail.
I know that you wouldn't use the second repost. Despite the nice photoshop work, it doesn't look anatomically correct. Loon wings are very symmetrical in their flaps, and the two wings are in different portions of the flap, and don't match well.

There is a modest green color cast in the image, and I might consider correcting that to give a better color balance.

Lovely post, and hope to see more of your images.


Cheers

Randy

[Aravind Krishnaswamy]

Thanks Randy. I'll look into the green cast as well.