Soft Misty Morning - Common Loon

[Randy Stout]

This loon was captured in June on a northern Michigan lake. Still and misty. I seldom post straight loon cruising shoots anymore, but this one was so soft and tranquil that I thought it was worthwhile sharing.

D700 600VR 1/320s f/4 ISO 800 Pedestal mounted in the bottom of my little boat, "Loonie Too"

Post: CS5 selective sharpening, 15% crop for composition, 1 degree rotation,

Thoughts and advice always appreciated

Cheers

Randy

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

AAhhhh Randy am I jealous of this image. The fog is so sweat and as you said tranquil. I like the the subtle upward HA too. I really want to get one of these shots on film...er...pixels

[Marina Scarr]

This image really works, Randy. Simply love the mood here that the fog created and the soft colors. Yet, the head and eye really stand out.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Beautiful, the plumage is soft and fantastic combination with the sharp eye (and perfect HA and eye contact).
Great framing of the faint reflection. What I like the most here are the cold deep green/blue colors. Love it!

[Josh Clark]

Love the mysterious feel that the mist creates in this Loon image. Sets it apart from other crusiing shots.

[dankearl]

Nice angle and nice mood photo.
Feels like fall more than June.
Nice soft light and the your normal beautiful Loon.

[gail bisson]

Randy,
This is absolutely lovely. I just loft the soft colors and the slight headturn. A beauty and one for the wall,
Gail

[allanrube]

I like it a lot. Beautiful soft, tranquil feeling comes through.

It is different from the sharp as a tack, see every water drop, sharp green shots that we post most of the time. Different isn't better all the time, but when you get a different shot that works as well as this one be happy. :bg3:

[Gary Esman]

Excellent Randy! The fog and mood sets up Northern Michigan very nicely. That eye looks great!

Gary.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Randy! I like the calm feel, HA, reflection and sharp eye.

[Chris Kotze]

Super soft colours pose and mood. I like the low angle.

[Ofer Levy]

Very sweet image! Tried to reduce the blue cast and warm it up a bit.

[Andrew Merwin]

A beautiful image of a beautiful bird in a very serene setting. TFS. I really like all your loon images Randy.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and input.

I guess even cruising loons can be cool! Because I spend so much time with them during the summer, I am always looking for unique shots, different poses or more action, and tend to ignore the more iconic shots. After all, I don't want to bore you.:bg3:

Ofer, thanks for the effort on the repost, well done.

Cheers

Randy

[Sachin Saraf]

Repost made it even better...wonderful capture Randy...love the ripples around bird and cool env.

[Mital Patel]

Randy,

This is truly fantabulous shot. I havent seen this bird and many images seen that is of yours of-course.

I see the image can go a bit recovery. I tried to give

Shadow/Highlight In PS keeping shadow levels 0 and highlight to say 30 rest as it is and it boosted up.

Dont know that is my macbook pro or what but i liked it a lot. You should try it and let us know if that works.

After all for this chap i shouldn't be telling you any point to correct :) Your'e the master for this. :cheers:

[Grace Scalzo]

Quiet and peaceful. I think your bluer version gives a dreamier, foggy feel more than does Ofer's. Both work well.

[Jim Fenton]

Randy...this one is superb and the only downside is the light area in the water.

I might be tempted to darken that up by cloning over it at 17-25% carefully.

Love the cyan in the neck feathers!

[Randy Stout]

Jim:

Interesting observation. In a perfect world, I would have wished for the head to be over the lighter area completely to help it pop from the BG. I have about 20 frames from this series, but this one was the best head angle of the bunch.

I may try a version with that light patch filled in a bit.


Mital - I will work on it a bit tonight, try some S/H work .

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Simply beautiful Randy. I love the velvety smoothness of the head plumage. The subtle rippling in front of the loon adds alot too.

[Arthur Morris]

Both nice. I can feel the cool, damp fog on my face.

[Stu Bowie]

The master of Loons at work again. :w3 Lovely tranquil setting to this, and I do like the inclusion of the mist. Overall, the colours and sharpness are spot on, and you have brought out the eye very well.