Ah, I love an early morning stretch - common loon wing flap

[Randy Stout]

Taken this past June, the adult's were still in prime breeding plumage. Their wing flaps are so quick, that you never really appreciate the details without the freeze action provided by our gear.

D700 600mm f/4 with 1.4 TC f/5.6 1/1600s ISO 640 Camera mounted on pedestal in the bottom of my little boat "Loonie Too"

Post: Added canvas to left, selective sharpening, 10% crop from below

Critique and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Fantastic low angle shot with great details and pose, Randy.
The background looks great and I love those little water droplets flying around of the head and neck.

[Paul Lagasi]

I've always enjoyed your loon images, over the past 3 years. This is no exception, it was captured, at just the right moment what matters is sharp, low angle and background...TFS

[Sidharth Kodikal]

This is just top notch, Randy. Light, wing spread, action - everything is superb. The details are just staggering.
The tiny ripples make it appear that CCW rotation is needed, but that may just be my perception.
Superb image. Very very well done.

[allanrube]

Your usual excellent loon shot. What do you do all winter?

VG stretch. Besides what has been said I like the light and colors. I can't tell if it need rotation.

What is causing that light patch to the left of the loon's head?

Head doesn't seem quite as sharp as the rest of the loon on my small laptop.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone:

I stared at it quite a while about a rotation. Some areas suggest it needs it, others don't to my eye, so I left it as shot.

Allen - the light patch near the loons head is a reflection from a tree trunk.

I think the perception of lack of sharpness on the head is partly because it doesn't have all the pattern, which gives the body that really crisp look. It seemed pretty good while I was editing the head. I suppose there could be a tiny amount of motion blur, they really spin their head, but I don't think so here.

Thanks again.

Randy

[dankearl]

Randy, beautiful light and pose.
It does seem to tilt a little left to right.
Always hard to judge, but the bird itself is just great.

[Melissa Groo]

Spectacular image, Randy. Another vote for tilting it towards the left a bit.
The light, the pose, the HA--magical!

[arash_hazeghi]

great action and nice low angle, head looks sharp to me

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I don't feel then need for rotation either myself. I love the detail and the fact that you just got enough red eye for it to work for me. The water drops add a great touch.

[Sid Garige]

Exceptional quality Randy. Brilliant job with exposure and post processing.

[Randy Bronkema]

This is exceptional Randy what detaill in the image , as far as cw rotation maybe but not enough to make or break it..ya just gotta love the LOON !!!!!
simply wonderful........

Randy

[Marina Scarr]

Love the action here. Looks sharp to me and I love that shake and the subsequent water droplets. I would try it with some CCW rotation.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Head looks sharp to me too, and even then I can sense the head shake...very neat effect. As you say, our gear nicely freezes to action for us to appriciate the intricacies nature has to offer - a great example here. I'm in the needs CCW rotation camp...even if it is just because of perception you could try it and see if that gets rid of the illusion

[Dumay de Boulle]

Lovely unique pose and the colors and shooting angle make it for me...Needs a CCW rotation but thats a small nit.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice that the head was turned at least a bit toward you. Wishing for a more open eye. Yes to some CCW rotation. EXP perfect. BKGR nice.

[Randy Stout]

Thanks everyone for the additional comments.

I will try a version with a bit CCW.

Artie - they almost always close the eye, the nictitating membrane or some combination of the two when flapping. This is about as good as it gets, but I will keep trying!


Cheers

Randy

[Arthur Morris]

Artie - they almost always close the eye, the nictitating membrane or some combination of the two when flapping. Cheers. Randy

I know that but it doesn't stop me from wishing that it was open wider

[Stu Bowie]

Randy, this rocks. This view works really well, as it shows off all the details and colours nicely. Love the pose, together with the flying droplets. You have also nailed the exposure in this too. Im going with the CCW camp.