Common Loon

[Wendy Kates]

I was canoeing in the Adirondacks this weekend, and was hesitant to bring my Canon 7D and bird lens on the boat, so I brought along my old Rebel with an 18-200 lens. Not the best lens for birds, but a very cooperative loon posed for me about 15 feet in front of the boat. So I think I got some good images despite the lens, but would appreciate your input.
Canon Xsi
f/5.6, 1/400s, ISO400, hand held

[P-A. Fortin]

Have you cropped the image? If not, this is scary close with the 18-200!

Obvious improvement is rotation to straighten the water line. If you can do that without cutting the head of the reflection that would be great.

Head angle and body position is great. Bird is well lit and the colors show up well. Whites might be a little bit overexposed. Have you tried toning down the highlights/whites a bit?

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, P.A. I cropped it by about 20%...mostly off the top of the image. I've tried to tone down the highlights / whites as you suggest...not sure it helped. I also added a little canvas to the bottom of the image, which allowed me to rotate it without affecting the reflection.

[Wendy Kates]

I realized that when I reduced the highlights, I removed some of the nice light on the loon's beak, so here is my second repost, hopefully correcting that.

[Diane Miller]

OK -- very nice correction! How did you tone down the highlights and what did you do for the repost?

You have good contrast and color now, and a very nice shot! I'd go with a little more rotation, though.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, Diane. For the first repost, I moved the highlights and whites sliders pretty far to the left. For the second repost, I moved them back a little to the right, and used levels to restore the light on the beak.

[WillieHall]

nice composition, colors and sharpness. I have also approached these, and other birds, close in my boat. It really works when moving slow. One of my favorite birds, thanks for the beautiful post and info on PP, learned lots.