Theme: Black bird (mostly) molting common loon

[Randy Stout]

Well, his breast isn't showing much, so he looks mainly black.

I really like the display of the progression of the molt in this individual. The lightening of the bill, white at the base of the bill, and the muting of the neck greens.

D4 600VR ISO 1000 1/1250 f/6.3. Taken from my little boat, the Loonie Too!

Post: added a bit of canvas to the left, toned down the whites, selective sharpening.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Miguel Palaviccini]

As soon as I saw the frame I thought how much I liked the white mottling throughout the head. dof is just right for the image, with the beak appearing to be in full focus. The ruffled neck feathers are nice,

More of a question than a critique, but when do you usually remove a second catchlight and when do you leave it? In general, I like having one but have seen some images with two (and I assume the second is caused by a reflection?). I would like to hear some input on this.

[Randy Stout]

Miguel:

Because the second catchlight is a natural thing, and is caused by a reflection as you noted, I generally leave it unless it is very distracting. In some cases it can make the eye appear less sharp, and I will remove it then.

I wasn't bothered by this one at all. The place where I will freq. work on the catchlight is in the reflection itself, where it can cause a long vertical white streak, which isn't good looking.

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

I had a feeling we'd see a loon pop up for this theme! I too like the molting plumage...if we're to see that I'd prefer it well advanced such as here. I especially like the bill with the base and tip both getting paler. Tack sharp, beautiful eye. Good call adding some canvas.

[Satish Ranadive]

Randy Sir,
Excellent image. Superb exposure in blacks. Like the glossy bill, eye and HA.

Regards,
Satish.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Excellent sharp details,exposure and comp
.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image Randy, such a beautiful bird and so endangered. Thank you for sharing.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful portrait, great details, a great shot, Randy.

[David Salem]

killer detail and exposure Randy. Love that eye and the glistening bill. Well done.

[Shawn Zierman]

I really enjoy how deeply you cover this subject...you easily have one of the most diverse and complete image collections I've ever seen of the Common Loon....great dynamic range photographed here. Love the closeness to the subject, crop choice, water color/tone, and unique plumage features...