Monday, my wife and I were in kayaks surveying grebes when we spotted a loon brood ahead of us. We paddled to within about 35 meters for a look, whereupon the attending parent dove leaving the chicks on their own. The next thing I knew, one of the chicks (about 4 days old, I'm guessing) starts swimming straight towards me - right up to my kayak. It looked like it wanted to climb aboard, but didn't know how. :) My camera setup had a minimum focusing distance of about 6 feet which is a problem when the chick is only 2 feet away! I did manage to get a little distance between us so I was able to take some photos. The little guy seemed to be completely relaxed. After a couple minutes, we quickly paddled away so the chick could get back to its real parent. 40D, 300 f/4 + 1.4X, 1/500, f/8, ISO 400, handheld, full frame. Comments are welcome.
A lucky encounter for you Steve! And a nice photo too. I had a similar experience a month ago when a 3" tall baby burrowing owl hopped right up to my girlfriend about 6" from her feet. It checked her out for a couple of minutes and then hopped back to the burrow. Getting back to the photo, I wonder if a little extra contrast would improve the image? Thanks for posting!
Great story and even better image! The calm water, soft light and details are great! I might put the little guy a bit higher in the frame and adjust the black point.
Lovely, I like the light, and the water colour, the compo looks fine, although I woul'd try to keep the reflection or to cut it more, but that peacefull look has no price. It is just wonderfull. Congrats!