COMMON LOON

[gary ellwein]

This loon spent much of the month of June on a pond in a partially completed commercial real estate developement. Initially it had a partner. When the other loon left, many thought this one was injured. To my knowledge, it left on it's own. Getting close was difficult, in that there is very little cover around the pond. Sunset, partly cloudy, Nikon D3s, Nikkor 600mm with 1.4TC, f7.1, 1/400, iso 400, matrix metering with a tripod. Photoshoped the bg to make it more uniform. Large 75% crop ( more than I like). Toned down the whites on the breast which are close to be blown. I like this as a clean simple image minus the issues listed above. C & C appreciated.

Gary

[John Chardine]

Very smart image Gary. Great low angle and warm light. Super eye contact and great composition.

[Kerry Perkins]

Gary, this is most excellent! You did a super job with the capture and processing. For the lost pixels on the breast I would recommend using the sponge tool to desaturate and then painting some color back in with a brush set to "color" mode. Use the color picker to choose the color of some of the darker areas of the breast and paint away...

[gary ellwein]

Gary, this is most excellent! You did a super job with the capture and processing. For the lost pixels on the breast I would recommend using the sponge tool to desaturate and then painting some color back in with a brush set to "color" mode. Use the color picker to choose the color of some of the darker areas of the breast and paint away...

Kerry, thanks for the information on removing the lost pixels. See the repost.

Gary

[Brendan Dozier]

Beautiful capture and comp, Gary! Love the super low angle, head-on view, and nice eye contact. Nice light, color and like how the water melts into BG. Nicely done!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Just a great shot of a beautiful baby. I am impressed with the planning and time spent. Also impressed that you knew about the partner. This demonstrates strong knowledge of the situation and understanding the environment - well done. Really like this one!

ps - I have also recovered whites by cloning from near by areas.

[annmpacheco]

What a beauty this is. And how terrific you were able to "watch" throughout June. The coloring is just beautiful. Put it up on the wall! Wow, great work in PS, thanks for explaining some of this, its helpful. Wonderful mellty, dreamy, oasis!!! TFS

[Kerry Perkins]

Gary, re-post looks better, good job!

[Cody Covey]

repost looks better. I have seen a ton of loons being posted lately. All have been beautiful and yours is no exception.

[Rachel Hollander]

Gary - beautifully done and the simplicity of the comp and smooth bg work very well.

TFS,
Rachel

[carole wiley]

Great low angle and eye contact, but it is the beautiful background colors andd the way you handled them that really put this over the top.