Nap time

[Randy Stout]

Common loon parent and almost one month old chick. Too old and big to back ride anymore, so had to settle with a snooze next to mom. The image does not have enough dof to give enough sharpness on the chick for my taste, and in retrospect, should have changed the aperture, but this pose lasted less than two seconds based on the shooting data, so no time to change.

I still feel it is an effective image because of the poses, but appreciate your input!

D4 600Vr f/5.6 1.640s ISO 1000 fill flash with beamer, pedestal mounted in the bottom of little boat, the Loonie Too!

Post: Full width horizontally, crop from top and bottom for comp. Selective sharpening, cleaned up the overly large flash catchlight in chicks eye.The bright white spots on the feathers are tiny water drops.

Cheers

Randy

[Andrew Merwin]

Randy, I think this is a very effective image. I have no issues with the DOF. I like that both eyes are visible & that the poses are nearly identical. While the loons are alert, there is also a sense of peacefulness as a result of their resting pose & the calm water. I also like the green water BG. I think I would like more space above as the loons seemed squished into the frame. TFS.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Randy,

The poses trump the lack of sharpness on the chick (which frankly I don't really notice). It might be because I don't expect a little fluffball to be sharp. The eye looks great, so I'm alright with the rest.

Nice composition in camera to get this shot - with only having to crop from the vertical. Great shot!

Miguel

[Loi Nguyen]

Randy, love the comp. Sharpness is OK here for me. The chick eye draws too much attention from my eye, so you may want to see if there are any residue artifacts from your clan up of the flash. Loi

[Melissa Groo]

I think perhaps I may not always be the best judge of sharpness, but the chick looks plenty sharp to me. What a beautiful, calming portrait of these two. I would add a bit more room to the top. Very sweet, special capture.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, an opportunity well used by capturing symmetrical poses, and with your usual low angle from your boat. The light looks nice and soft, and Im fine with the DOF and sharpness as posted. The pano crop works well with the 'low' poses.

[vishaljadhav]

I love the mood captured in this image, great IQ

[MohsenVahedipour]

I love the very nice moment you've captured & OK with chick's sharpness. Also like the pose, Adult's sharpness, soft light & low shooting angle.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Looks great, I like the poses the low angle and the detail looks absolutely fine to me.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great mirrored poses Randy and the low angle works great

[Jay Gould]

I have to do loons someday; this is lovely.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and thoughts. Much appreciated.

I will try a version with a bit more canvas above.

Cheers

Randy

[Sandy Witvoet]

Outstanding! Rare moment, rare capture, perfectly timed. DOF looks great to me!
A bit more on top might be nice.... but, love it "as is".

[Karen Forderer]

Beautiful photo. The DOF doesn't bother me at all. I like the symmetry of the poses.