Road Runners Got Nothing on Me - Common loon take off

[Randy Stout]

This fellow was imaged last August as he blasted off from a Northern Michigan lake. It is always a big deal for them to get airborne and fun to watch the effort it takes. It is too fast for the naked eye to really appreciate some of the gyrations their bodies go through to take off.

D4 500mm AFS f/5.0 ISO 800 1/2000s Handheld from my boat

Post: Added a bit of canvas on front for room to run into. Selective sharpening. Crop top and right for comp.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Great action shot Rany! lovely bird, very nice splash and sharp where counts. If mine, I would have given more room on right to have a better look at the splash as I believe is an important part of the image and of course I would have to add more room in
front of the bird which would make the image a more panoramic but I believe that would balance it. Just my opinion. :)

[Arthur Morris]

Spectacular action, sharpness, and EXP. Who took a chunk our of his forehead???

[christopher galeski]

nice takeoff pose,likethe splash,good exposure,sharp were it counts.

[Frank Schauf]

A great dynamic image, congratulations.

[Jonathan Ashton]

It looks pretty spectacular to me super details and action, a good choice on the crop.

[keith mitchell]

Smashing action those legs look to be all over the place, more you look the more pleasure it gives,great shot.

Keith.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, great action captured here - love the low angle, and you can see the effort for the take off. Well exposed, sharp where it counts, and I like the blues of the water.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Awesome action! I love the running pose, and you did well with the processing. Bummer about the early molting stage. Where's the ACME product?

[William Dickson]

All been said Randy. Well done and thanks for sharing

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone, comments much appreciated.

As Daniel pointed out, he has started to molt, giving the lighter patch on the brow. It would be easy to fill that in, but it does tell the story about the time of the year.

Juan Carlos: I do have one more small splash on the right that was cropped out. It was right against the frame edge. Yes, I could add a bit more to the left and also include that splash. I will look at that option. My thought was that the bird was going to get too small in the frame if I had too much real estate in the image.

Cheers

Randy

[gail bisson]

I really like this randy.
So awkward looking, reminds me of a gangly teenager.
Sharp, great action and good light. Would like a bit more on the RHS,
Gail

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the running pose, sharpness, exposure and splash. I agree with Juan on including the whole splash on our right. Well done Randy.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Spectacular! Great action and really get the feeling of the power it takes for the "take off". Comp is great.
(although, I've never seen a pre-molt on their "forehead" before....)

[Randy Stout]

Sandy:

It is possible that this fellow had an old injury that caused this discoloration, but probably just an unusual molting pattern.

Cheers

Randy