The Gift

[Randy Stout]

I am often struck by how much enjoyment our photos can continue to give to us over time, and how sometimes you will discover an older file that was missed initially.

Common loon Northern Mich. June/2010
D300 500mm f/4 with 1.4TC f/9 1/320s ISO 500 Manual Gitzo/Wimberley from boat

Post: Curves, selective sharpening, blend mode work on some white areas, 30% crop, spots in water toned down.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Awesome capture. Details, sharpness, pose, ha, water color; and the extra morsel, is a bonus! Works 100% for me, just wondering about the crop to the right , and incomplete duck... still an awesome pic, i'd love to have a shot like that.
Merry Christmas to ya!!!
Don

[John Wright]

Stunning image - great subject, interaction, detail and colours!

[Stu Bowie]

Tack sharp Randy, and you have brought out the green sheen on the head so well. Lovely eye, and just love the droplets too. Hope you dont mind, I removed some noise from the BG, ( only from a line from the tip of the beak upwards. I left the bottom so as to retain the ripples and reflection ) I also found the whites a touch hot, and did a slight linear burn.

[Bill Dix]

Just a super shot. Colors are spectacular. Stuart's NR helps.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone

Stuart:

The whites certainly are on the edge, I had already done a linear burn once on the necklace to tone it down.
The background had some specular highlights and small debris, but I hadn't been particularly bothered by noise there.

Thanks for the well done repost.

Cheers

Randy.

[Troy Lim]

Randy, never get tired of looking at these guys.
Nice shots for sure.
It looks like from the BG, it needs a bit of CCW rotation?

[Michael Bertelsen]

Great Shot Randy,

Love the crawfish. The head angle couldnt be better IMHO.

Cheers,

Michael

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Randy, loved this one. Terrific exposure and processing....perfect HA and prey a huge plus.

Troy, I dont think it needs rotation as the reflection seems to be lined up well. Its not a good idea to go by the ripples as they can be coming in at an angle.

[Doug Brown]

Excellent image Randy! Perfect head angle, awesome prey, and a fantastic exposure. You captured all the color these loons have to offer, and that's no easy feat!

[allanrube]

As a loon shooter I enjoyed the comments that came before I saw the image. The repost seems too contrasty to me. If it were a layer on top of the original I would decrease the opacity to below 40%.
Head angle looks good to me.
Crawfish is a big plus.

[Gary Esman]

EXCELLENT!:cheers:

[RAM MALLYA]

Lovely catch indeed loved the ripples on the water and BG