Loon in rain

[Keith Carver]

Breeding plumage adult common loon; overcast, low light, light rain - Damariscotta Lake, Maine

1DM3, 500IS x1.4, ISO640, f/10, 1/250, -0.3 EV. I slowed the shutter speed to pick up short rain streaks. PP: USM 130/0.3/0 on bird plus BG noise reduction.

Self-critique: wish for body angled about 90 deg CW - maybe next time ...

C&C appreciated, thanks for looking.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the overall ambiance you got here. I don't mind the bird swimming away as it creates a nice diagonal trail behind it...BUT...I do wish it woud have given you a better head angle towards you. Some more sharpening would be good for web presentation. The dark halo along the back and above the wake suggests you may have used the burn tool or other PS tool to darken some areas?

[Keith Carver]

The dark halo along the back and above the wake suggests you may have used the burn tool or other PS tool to darken some areas?

I selectively increased the green contrast in the water, maybe overdid it ... Thanks, Daniel.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the mood and soft light. Adding to Daniel's comments, I would try to remove the magenta cast.

[Randy Stout]

Keith:

Some very good advice above. I really like loons and always enjoy seeing them. The mood here is so appropriate for this species. HA mentioned. The color cast mentioned by Axel is pretty striking, esp. when you get rid of it!

I did a quick revision to try and address these issues. Removing the cast was the most noticeable improvement I think. There is some haloing starting to show up from the manipulation, but I am pretty sure you can redo it from raw without that creeping in.

The constant challenge with this type of B&W bird to maintain detail in the blacks, without blowing the whites. Even on a low contrast day like this, they whites were hot in the original image. I toned them down with highlight protection, but you might consider reconverting the raw image and applying some correction there.

I also made a small crop to strengthen the diagonal line, IMO.

Cheers

Randy

[Ramon M. Casares]

Randy's repost works better and that crop is what I was going to suggest :)
Nice mood here.
Congratulations!

[Keith Carver]

Keith:

The color cast mentioned by Axel is pretty striking, esp. when you get rid of it!

Thanks, Axel, Randy - much improved color balance. Makes a big difference...

The constant challenge with this type of B&W bird to maintain detail in the blacks, without blowing the whites. Even on a low contrast day like this, they whites were hot in the original image. I toned them down with highlight protection, but you might consider reconverting the raw image and applying some correction there.

I also made a small crop to strengthen the diagonal line, IMO.

Will redo from RAW, repost later. The crop is a major improvement - thanks, Randy.

[Keith Carver]

My repost: started with original RAW, did a light contrast tweak (curves), removed magenta cast, cropped per suggestion. No hot whites in this one, which seems best so far to me. Thanks again for all suggestions. Further comments?