Pacific Loon on Tundra Pond

[Grace Scalzo]

From Churchill this past June.

1/1600, f 7.1, iso800
Canon 1dx, 600 f4 + 1.4tc + lowered rrs tripod
Processed with LR, CC14, Nik and MacPhun (Little tweaks from each)

[Randy Stout]

Grace:

Lovely bird, good shooting angle, nice sense of environment without being overpowering. Effective reflection.

The whites on the breast look a bit muddy by common loon standards, but I have not seen one of these fellows in person.

A beauty. Thanks!

Randy

[Grace Scalzo]

Thank you Randy. The breast on these loons is a cream color....not white at all. Even so, tricky to expose!

[John Robinson]

What a gem !! Beautiful picture indeed.
John

[Enrique Patino]

outstanding in all counts. love how the bird is pointing and looking at what appears to be "space" framed by the vegetation... and the light reflection in the face!

[dankearl]

Perfect in every way.
The amount of habitat is just right.
The loon is just the right size in the frame.
A lesson in Bird photography.......

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Grace this is truly artistic!
Love the calmness in this image. The nice light and beautiful loon. All works great for you here. TFS!

[William Dickson]

What a beautiful, natural looking photograph Well done Grace. Love it

[christopher galeski]

I agree with everything that as been said,its a beautiful image,well done.

[Ian Wilson]

Stunning capture Grace, textbook stuff. Well done. Regards, Ian

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb image Grace! Love the habitat, the reflection, the eye contact and POV very much. TFS.

[Frank Schauf]

Gorgeous light, comp and pose. Congrats on this one.

[Gerald Kelberg]

A very classy image - beautifully balanced between the bird and the environment.

Agree with Dan - a lesson in bird photography.

Thanks for sharing.

[gail bisson]

Absolutely stunning. Nothing but praise for this image.
Gail

[Simon Wantling]

Agree with all the above - a truly wonderful image.

[Bill Dix]

A truly stunning image. Add my vote to all of the kudos above. Still, I find myself wondering what is happening slightly further to the right. I suspect the oof vegetation there was not as appealing as that on the left, otherwise you might have considered having the bird a bit further to the left in the frame. That said, I would give my eyeteeth to have this one.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Jeepers this is beautiful! I love everything about it, from the comp, to habitat, techs, and processing. Way to go Grace!

[David Salem]

I know you said you had a tough trip but this one sure salvaged the shortcomings. Very smooth and appealing image. The techs look perfect and what a beautiful subject you had to work with.
Great job Grace!!

[Dvir Barkay]

Beautiful shot, maybe wish he was looking the other way. But otherwise very nice.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent pose details, light HA and display of environment.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Breathtaking!




Geoffrey

[Jonathan Ashton]

A really beautiful image I love the presentation what super print this would make.

[Marina Scarr]

I am with the above comment that this image is "a lesson in bird photography." It takes a special eye to create this type of image and compose it just right.

[Grace Scalzo]

My humble thanks to everyone who commented on this image. It was simply an excellent opportunity with a great bird, habitat and light and everything came together. David Salem mentioned it being a tough trip. I went to Churchill with David Hemmings (Nature's Photo Adventures) and we had HEAT. Who would have thought it in the sub-Artic. Things weren't as expected there as a result, but we rode the flow and came up with some great birds, just had to work a little harder for them!

Again, my heartfelt thanks.

[Jim Neiger]

Great light, angle, and composition. Well done, Grace!

[Ivan Ellison]

Love this image, blurred foliage and super sharp bird, colours in the water. Really well done with this

[George Welch]

Breathtaking - great technique as well. Just stunning.