Loon Side Look

[Sandy Witvoet]

Loon nest here has failed twice... has been very windy and rainy, so not many ops. Managed a short session recently.
Canon 60D, 400mm F4, f5.6, ISO 800, +2/3. Always a pleasure to view them, regardless of conditions.... shot from the floor of our pontoon.

[Julie Brown]

Nice look-back pose, Sandy. They are beautiful in breeding plumage, aren't they?

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I love the contrast between blacks & whites. The head area looks unnaturally smooth. Due to pp or is it just the way the feathers are that prevents more detail (wet perhaps)?

[Bill Dix]

A lovely look-back pose, Sandy, and good detail in the body. I know loons' heads can look very smooth, but I agree this seems to be a little lacking in detail. Also what is probably lack of DOF on the bill. I'm wondering if just a touch on DE on the head, and a little additional USM, might help.

[Randy Stout]

Sandy:

Lovely pose, good shooting angle. I was struck by the 'smooth' head as well. Did you need to run some noise reduction or other post processing to account for this? Large crop?
Not seeing a lot of detail on the breast, or on the whites on the wings. Obviously light angle has a lot to do with that.

Look forward to more. I am in serious loon withdrawal!

Cheers

Randy

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thanks Julie, Tobie, Bill and Randy for your kind comments and thoughtful suggestions/questions. Head is smooth like this on the original too...rather than wet, I think his head is quite dry (wasn't recently diving). Yes, fairly large crop (this is probably only 50% of master). My PP skills are minimal.
Randy, I knew I couldn't get away with much with you! And also, I too am having serious Loon withdrawal... seems that many of the nests in MI and WI have failed this year.... and the weather has certainly been less than ideal.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Very nice pose and shooting angle Sandy. Exposure looks very nice too.
Agree that the head appears smooth.I see a halo around the head that I'd fix. I also think I see some smudges in the bg above the head. I'd crop from the bottom a bit.
Looking forward to a repost with potential processing problems fixed. TFS.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Thanks, Sidarth.... head is what it is... it actually should look extremely smooth and, "waterproof" for this species ...... I did, however, see the PP halo on the head (and somewhat on the body) here too...good catch! Will repost if I can address the issues....although I prefer not to crop any more from the bottom.