Last of the Loon In the Fog Series

[Grady Weed]

Of the 3 images I prefer this one. I think from here on out I will go for feeding, riders with mom and landing loons. This is the same Loon as the other 2, just a different pose. Thanks for looking. Specs: Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Shooting Date/Time 6/21/2008 06:09:09, Shutter Speed 1/800Sec. Av(Aperture Value) F8.0, Evaluative metering, Exposure Compensation +1 1/3, ISO Speed 640, Lens EF300mm f/2.8L IS USMm Focal Length 300.0 mm.

PS: I do have a bit more room all the way around. I still cant figure out how to brighten up the eye Fabs. It was darker and I used the dodge tool to lighten it up. I guess that did not work! :confused: I usually tose a frame it it is not close to perfect. I really do not like to PS my images too much. not to say lightening up the eye is too much a thing to ask in PS. this series was quite an experiment.

I was in a dry spell for 3 months. No frames, depressed. We had, and still do have grey skies, rain, stinky weather. So I forced myself to go out and shoot on the pond. Glad I did, just what I needed. With 6 trusting adult loons to work with, should get better keepers, and different poses.

I just want to add a big thanks for the quality eyes here! See you in the forums, maybe in the field.

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice, Grady, although a little tight. The eye could use some work.

[Fabs Forns]

Hi Grady,
If you are not familiar with O'Toole's method of selection, just use the Elliptical Marquee Tool, second from top in PS Tool panel. Default is the rectangular one for straight lines, you may have to right click on the tool to get the other options. It will be the second option. Select the eye, then Modify>Feather>in this case, since it's a small file, I feathered 2 pixels. Feathering is to avoid a cookie cutter effect.
Once selected, I hit Control J to put it in another layer and used curves to lighten it.
Control E to flatten.

Still didnt look good because it had glare on the top part, so I used the clone stamp at a low opacity (you can lower the opacity on the top, in the tool task bar) to get the same color as the bottom in the Iris. Then using the Brush Tool, the size of the pupil, I painted it black at an opacity of 15%.

Then added canvas. I know you have more space in your original, but if you need to add canvas, there's a quick tutorial in the Edu Resorces :)

[Grady Weed]

Huge difference to me here. Many thanks!

[Mike Lentz]

White skies keep me off the water... kudo's for getting out!