Splash to take off - common loon

[Randy Stout]

Those who have been fortunate to spend time with common loons, know how hard they have to work to take off. It is a major production for them, as they really are optimized for diving and not flying. They have the highest weight to wing area of any flying bird. You would think with their long take off runs, that it would be an easy thing to capture, but I have not found it to be so.

This fellow was imaged last week in northern Michigan, shortly after sunrise. He was going to a nearby lake to do some fishing, and would return a bit later to help feed his chick.

D4 600vr f/5 1/500s ISO 1000. Shot from my little boat.

Post: Added canvas to top, leveled, crop from bottom. Cleaned up the corneal reflection a bit.

I liked the combination of the panning, slow shutter speed and horizontal bands to give a sense of speed and motion.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Mike Poole]

Can mods get 'photo of the week'?

This is truly spectacular, to me the head looks pin sharp but the wings are in the perfect position for the shot, just enough clearance above the head, and the fantastic bout. The feet show great movement and positioning, and the water blur finishes this off nicely

Definite wall hanger for me

Mike

[Bill Dix]

Good one, Randy. It definitely captures the exact moment of take-off, and the sense of motion. Great wing position, sharpness where it matters, lovely setting. I might have been tempted to brighten the eye just a tad. This must be particularly tough to get from your little boat, especially if the 600 was mounted on it.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Randy,
Very finely executed shot. Gives the sense of motion and place so well. Well done.
Allen

[Karl Egressy]

Great looking shot, Randy. The relatively slow shutter speed works very well for the image.

[keith mitchell]

Walking on water!Randy you really have nailed this one.

Keith.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the action, and you did really well with the composition....perfectly balanced. I do wish the brighter areas in the BG were not so bright but that is what you had. I'm wondering if the image has a tad cyan/greenish cast? Here I added reds to the overall color balance. What do you think?

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the comments, much appreciated.

Daniel - thanks for the repost, always good to see good options. The colors were quite cool at that time of day with no direct sunlight, but I do agree the original has a bit of green cast. Perhaps somewhere between the two would be a nice balance of my memory versus a more neutral color scheme.

Cheers

Randy

[arash_hazeghi]

nice dynamic pose, I like the trailing splash and the water drops, Dan'd repost looks better to me in terms of colors. I only wish the BG was more uniform w/o the bright bands

TFS

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Must be a tough shot to get Randy. I don't envy you in trying to capture it.
I like the result you had achieved. Wish you didn't have the really bright areas, but based on how tough this is, I am not complaining really.
Well done mate!

[Grace Scalzo]

Randy, I've been learning about luminosity masks to tone down brightness but not make whites look gray. I think that might help with the complaints about this image. I like the wing and feet blur....shows how hard this bird is working. As for the color, top does look green.