The water tends to be all blue when a loon is out in the middle of the lake. But when it gets closer to shore the water color always has a mixture of colors depending on the foliage at the shore.
Does look like he is happy/smiling.
Excellent exposure, showing the vertical banding on the breast, not always seen.
This image really show his transition from chick to juvi, with the intermediate feather patterns.
Good explanation on the water. I get so used to seeing this in my loon images, that I tend to take it for granted.
From a crop standpoint, I might try to move him a bit towards the left side of the frame, esp. if you have a bit more canvas on the right to play with.
Certainly looks like a happy youngster to me. Nice colors and details; agree with a bit more room to the right. Water looks good to me. Seems he may be listing a bit to his right; maybe a little CW rotation?
Nice one! I would move the bird a little bit to the left so there is more room on the right as suggested by the others. It is amazing how quickly they grow. I have spent the summer shooting a pair of loons with two chicks at family cottage. I find at this age it is hard to get a family portrait of them - parents and youngsters spread out quite a bit.
Love the feather detail you captured here. Water doesn't bother me at all. Agree the juv is a tad too centered. You had lovely light and couldn't have asked the juv to pose at a better angle.
You must be having a ball watching these young birds progress in their development.
The image was not cropped so there is nothing to add on the right. I did take a bit off the left. How is this?
Problems in my kayak:
1) Was using a non-zoom
2) Kayak often floats too close
3) bought a Nikon 80-400 which helped composition the next time I went but IQ is not as good as 300 f/4 with 1.4 tc
I prefer the repost slightly over the OP. I tend to like pano style images for loons, and might also consider a small crop off from the bottom now.
I have an 80-400, but have never used for loons. For me, I need to be at f/7.1 or so to really like the IQ from that lens, and the lighting I like won't allow that f stop.
I shoot from several different boats, and rely on a variety of trolling motors to allow me to keep my distance without disturbing the birds.
I wonder if one of the Hobies with pedal drive would work, so you could keep your hands free?
6 week old loon
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