THEME: Black & white bird: Common Loon in mist and reeds

[Randy Stout]

Just back from Northern Michigan. Got out once and enjoyed a dead still morning. The loons however wanted to stay in heavy shade, so a bit of a challenge from a lighting standpoint.

D4 600VR with 1.4 TC f/6.3 1/500s ISO 2000. SB900 with beamer, -2.7 EC Pedestal mounted in the bottom of my little boat, Loonie Too. I even remembered to take the Wimberley this time, so a lot easier than hand holding.

Post: CS5, selective sharpening, minor clone work on spots in background. No noise reduction. Full frame, as shot.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

I thought this one qualified pretty well as a black and white bird, for this months theme.

Cheers

Randy

[John Ippolito]

Lovely image, Randy. Nice details in the head, eye, and the water droplets bring it alive. BG and FG water very nice as well.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, shooting from your boat brings out the best angles so well. Good use of flash to bring out the darker plumage on the head, and the droplets add interest. I do like the OOF lines of the reeds in the BG.

[christopher galeski]

nice one,good detail,like the soft light and water droplets.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like everything, the subject foreground and background, this shot just oozes with quality.

[gail bisson]

ISO 2000 and no noise reduction!Amazing.
I like the composition and the single water droplet in front of the throat and the slightly raised head.
I really like the water and the BG as well. Interesting how we always think of water as being blue but most avian shots show water as green or gray or brown.
The fill flash was perfect here.
A lovely shot Randy,
Gail

[Sanjeevprakash]

Lovely Image Randy. Very sharp and perfectly exposed. I do like the soft BG.TFS

Sanjeev

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details and sharpness.

[Bill Dix]

Love this. Fabulous angle from Loonie Too; great exposure and use of flash. Yes, this is certainly a black and white bird; in fact, I'm surprised there isn't a little more color showing on the loon's neck band and head.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Bill - the color that shows is all about the light angle, and it just didn't pop in this one. On some wide gamut monitors, you can see a little blue, in the neck band, but it is subtle.

I will post some others from that same morning with almost a rainbow of colors showing because of the light angle.

Cheers

randy

[jack williamson]

Beautiful IQ and BG. Water color is awesome. Excellent flash work.

Jack

[Marina Scarr]

Quite a unique image, Randy, and I have had to view it a few times before commenting b/c I just wasn't able to articulate how I was feeling about it. First of all, your use of flash was really subtle, and I like that. Love your angle. I am usually one who goes for the brilliant colors. However, this image is truly unique, and the colors are subtle, and it is really growing on me. My instinct was to pull it into PS and up the SAT on the green BG but then I realized that I really liked it as with the muted greens. The details and patterns of the water droplets on the loon's cheek are quite delicate and add a lot to this image. Well seen and executed.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like this alot Randy, and like Marina I had to look at it for a while to have the colours (or subdued colouring) grow on me, especially the eye that I instinctively would have lightened a bit at first. Composition is fantastic. I think this is one of my faves from you...

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Randy! I like the low angle, flash work, water drop and IQ.