Loon Portrait Close Up

We went out this morning early. Instead of finding the family up close to the nesting area, they were all the way down to the other end of the pond, about 1 miles paddle. So upon finding them and no baby, we could only assume the snapping turtles go tit over night. We will check one last time Saturday morning early. Thanks for looking.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Shooting Date/Time 7/19/2008 05:38:59. Shutter Speed 1/320Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation -2/3, ISO 400, Lens: EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM, Focal Length 300.0 mm. Hand held from the kayak. Cropped for a 9x12 with 95% of frame left here. This loon came almost to 10 feet away. I do not have any room on the right to give it. I have some room on the left, but just a bit. Too tight?

Let me know what you think please. Even if you have no suggestions for improvement, let me know what you like or do not anyway. Good or bad, I would like to know.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Since this is a portrait the tightness does not bother me but I wish the head were angled toward you. A bit more sharpening of the bird would improve the image.

Hi Grady,
I really like the colors, sheen on the feathers, swirls in teh BG water and the details of the bill in this close up. It's a little tight up front to me. Even though the eye is pretty much centered from the tip of the bill to the back of the head, the difference in thickness between the point of the beak and the curved head/neck, together with the differences in distance from these elements to the edge of the frame, makes it look unbalanced.
Steve

I think the portrait (crop) here is good! If the bird turned a little it would have helped you though.

Ì love it, although I would've left some room to the right and mybe a lower angle would've help make this terrific shot even better! Congratulations!!! As said, terrific shot!

I like it alot. A bit more room right wouldn't be a bad thing but the bg and the ripples in the water are very nice. Beautiful colors in the bird.

Hi Grady. Too bad about the loon chick. Sometimes fish will also take a small chick. I really like the eye in this close view. The patterns in the water on the right side are beautiful. The head angle has been noted. I'm with Steve on the crop. I think the image would be stronger if you cropped about half (or even more) the distance from the left edge to the bird's neck. IMO, you wouldn't lose anything critical to the image, the comp would be more balanced, and your eye would naturally go to the best parts of this image.

All comments duly noted. the crop and right room are things to think over. I really appreciate the views here on BPN.

Hi Grady,
Very nice close up pose. The details and colors on your bird are fantastic. No nits from me all tech. points covered. Congrats on a job well done...:cool:

This is wonderful. The color and patterns in the water put this in a top category for me!