Red-throated Loon

[Luis Villablanca]

Here is another loon image from my trip to Alaska. I spent a long time approaching them
and after a while they got used to me and got relatively close, so I made a few head shots.
On this one you can see the reflection of the landscape in the eye.

This is approx a 70% crop of FF. The light was constantly changing so the camera settings are
a bit messed up. I should have used a smaller aperture...well, next time...

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Red-throated Loon - Gavia stellata
Canon 1D Mark IV, 500L, 1/1600s, f/7.1, ISO 800, manual exposure

Critique and comments are very welcome.

Thanks for looking,
--
Luis

[yogesh_puranik]

wow..excellen image what a lovely landscape in the eye..superb..

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent portrait. Great detail and love the eye. Well done.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice head-shot Luis!

[Ofer Levy]

This is superb! I see no problem with the settings - you got enough dof IMHO.

[ArneBivrin]

Superb head shot with the landscape in the eye. The settings seem OK to me.

[Daniel Cadieux]

The settings look fine to me too. Excellent portrait. I wouldn't mind a bit more room top and left for a tradtional 3:2 ratio, and I would black the pupil more (but killer reflection in the eye!)

[Andrew Merwin]

A great portrait Luis. One question: is the horizontal line across his eye his nictitating membrane?

[Luis Villablanca]

A great portrait Luis. One question: is the horizontal line across his eye his nictitating membrane?

That's a good question. Initially I thought that, until I noticed that every shot had it, which was very odd.
Now, if you look at this 100% crop you will notice that the line is broken and shows the hills around Nome.
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[Luis Villablanca]

Thank you all for the comments.

My problem with the aperture is that the area on the back of the neck is OOF.
That striped green/white pattern is also very nice and hard to get on the normal views.

[Andrew Merwin]

That's a good question. Initially I thought that, until I noticed that every shot had it, which was very odd.
Now, if you look at this 100% crop you will notice that the line is broken and shows the hills around Nome.


Luis, that is very interesting. Are you saying that the horizontal line is a reflection of the horizon in the loon's eye?

[Luis Villablanca]

Luis, that is very interesting. Are you saying that the horizontal line is a reflection of the horizon in the loon's eye?

Andrew, that's exactly it. The nictitating membrane should be a straight line and what I'm seeing here is a reflection of the hills behind me.
Also, I think the nictitating membrane should show as a vertical line. I think I have one image from that session where it appears together with the horizon line.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Thank you all for the comments.

My problem with the aperture is that the area on the back of the neck is OOF.
That striped green/white pattern is also very nice and hard to get on the normal views.

I understand your concern with the aperture and do see the OOF you mention, but I have zero issues with it in your image. The eye and the face are what captivates me.

IAC, next time you have a cooperative subject you will remember to fiddle and experiment with settings, won't you!:S3:

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks Luis. This is the first time I have seen a horizon reflection in an eye. As I said; very interesting what we capture with our cameras.

[Doug Brown]

Absolutely no tech issues at all for me with this gorgeous head shot. Nicely done! But as Daniel suggested, it's a good idea to try different camera settings with a cooperative subject. I might have dropped the ISO a little.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Pretty cool, Luis. Loved the BG and the eye draws the viewer in. perfect exp. and sharp where it should be. Well done.