The Happy Family

[Andrew McLachlan]

Alan Rube's stunning photo the other day inspired me to post another one of my loon photos from this past season. There was a slight drizzle on this day that I was following the loons in my canoe on Horseshoe Lake near Parry Sound, Ontario. I am pleased to report that both loon chicks survived the summer on the lake.

I am wondering if I need to do a little noise reduction on the background. Appreciate all comments.

Nikon D200
80-400 VR lens @ 250mm (effective 375mm)
ISO400
f7.1 @ 1/180 sec

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice family portrait. with 4 nice HAs:cool:. Glad to know the chicks survived their first summer!! I like the overall feel to the image, but a few minor corrections take this one step higher. The first is that I find your image has a bit of a cyan cast. There are a number of ways to correct this - here are two (both will give a different, but good, result): 1) add a bit of red in Color Balance, or 2) reduce the cyan channel in saturation. Second, it may be just an illusion but I feel the image could use an ever so slight CCW rotaion. Lastly, I would prefer the dark band above not there. Still, very enjoyable...and I'm sure you had a great time with this delightful family!

[wendell westfall]

Andrew, very beautiful birds; I've never seen one in the "flesh." Yes, I think some NR would be in order.

[Charles Scheffold]

The composition is nice, and the chicks are cute! I didn't really notice any noise in the background until I read your comments - personally I think it looks fine.

Charles

[Andrew McLachlan]

Thanks for the comments guys. Much appreciated.

Daniel, thanks for the tips. I didn't notice the ever-so-slight tilt until you pointed it out. i think it is noticeable more when looking at the chicks. Colour cast - I seem to have a little trouble noticing colour casts at times. I'll clean that up too. If I pull-up the image in Nik's color cast removal filter I'm sure I will notice what you are seeing.

[Colin Driscoll]

Nice family. Can't see a color cast myself, except maybe a little too green. The image could do with a bit of a lift in brightness IMO.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super image I like the poses very much indeed. I think the birds make for a lovely composition, having read Dan's comments I think this image would from very good to excellent.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the family scene and the colours. Well done Andrew.

[Stu Bowie]

I like how the parents are posing in opposite directions, and good to see the two youngsters. Comp wise, I would take about half off the bottom, and quite a bit off the top. I agree this needs a slight CCW rotation, and would run some NR on the BG.

[denise ippolito]

Andrew, A real sweet moment captured. I like that you left some room for these guys. Good suggestions already given. Nicely done.