Loon with snack - Looking forward to the next generation

One of our newest members, Sandy Witvoet, is from Northern Michigan, and a loon lover. Chatting with her got me excited about the upcoming season.

This adult was bringing in snacks for junior last June.

D4 600VR f/5.6 1/2500s ISO 640 Manual. Mounted in bottom of my little boat, 'Loonie Too"

Post: Selective sharpening, added canvas to right. Cleaned up the catchlight in both bird and reflection, and desaturated the eye in the reflection a bit.

I tried a version with the head cropped away in the reflection, but felt that it was a bit too panoish (new word there!) even for me. Appreciate your thoughts on that point.

Cheers

Randy

You couldn't get much lower without getting wet.
I like the Bow wake and the smooth water.
Maybe a touch more contrast?

Hi Randy,
Another great loon shot.
I like the prey in the mouth.
I might blend/burn the whitish line in the BG above the duck's back.
As always, your low POV makes this image sing,
Gail

Thanks for the input. Gail, I had done a version with the band blended out, and it did look better. I had another version with the reflection cleaned up( which I posted) and didn't realize I had missed the band in that one.

I will take care of it!

Thanks

Randy

Randy Sir:
One more magnificent image of loon with beautiful composition.
Love the loon with food in the beak,lovely colors,lights and low angle.

Regards,
Satish.

Very nice Randy, great to see it with a food item in it's bill. Not too crazy about the bird in the middle of the frame, maybe a bit off the top and a slight ccw rotation.

Randy - great low pov and I like the reflection and the wave the loon is pushing. Excellent sharpness and IQ as always.

TFS,
Rachel

very nice image,good low angle,like the food in the bill,nice FG,BG,thanks.

Excellent image,nice sharp and love this catch angle.

Wow, were you in an over sized loon costume to get so close !! This is splendid .. A touch closer and you could have snatched the fish out of that loon's beak....

Excellent loon image here Randy. The tiny morsel in the beak makes it for me. This is aside from the IQ and general tech specs of this lovely photo. Good low angle too!

You are the man when it comes to loon shots. great image and I to am looking forward to this years images. I have only ever seen one in summer plumage, they are normally drab winter birds we get in the north of england.

Thanks everyone for the input, much appreciated.

Mike - re; rotation - I did rotate the original. I rechecked it again, using the ruler from the tail of the fish to its reflection. Looks like it could stand another .3 degrees CCW. Good pickup.

I am still curious about folks thoughts on cropping out the head in the reflection. Apparently its low quality isn't bothering folks too much.:S3:

Cheers

Randy

Hey Randy! THANKS for this image (I've been going thru Loon withdrawals since the end of October here) and for your kind "welcoming" PM's to me. I would definitely keep the reflection...by cropping out the head, I agree it may be too "panoish" (nice word!).... then, would you then be left with just the necklace and the body as reflections?... could also be more distracting than helpful. Love the "bow wake"... shows movement with a purpose...these "guys" are so graceful, but FAST, especially when Junior is looking for "lunch"! Absolutely lovely.

Terrific shot!!
I personally would not remove the reflection. Though it's not a strong reflection it brings good balance to the entire image.
Excllent low angle, nice muted light, and great IQ.
Well done.

Beautiful shot, great IQ, great light, great subject, love the prey, wouldn't crop out the reflection.

Nice soft green color in this, Randy. A tough bird to crop unless it's a pano. Looks like a keeper to me.

Hope someday to catch these in that plumage . The fish is a bonus and I love the blue water trail