Yellow-billed Loon

Gallery: AvianPosted August 13, 2010115 views5 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm x 2.0TC, handheld
f7.1, 1/320, ISO320

I posted another shot of this Loon earlier. This was a bird that had been briefly rehabbed, and then released in a local refuge. I was looking for the bird and surprised it on the bank of the pond. I was able to grab this single shot as it swam away, just before it dove. I'd have loved to have gotten the bird's butt, but it's a fixed lens...

Full frame. The head is a bit soft-looking, but the detail on the bill is actually pretty good. I invite speculation on why that happened.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Kenneth Arni on August 14, 2010 at 5:39 AM

Good Close up with nice head turn Jim, This just makes me think of the differences between spot and matrix metering. I've been trying to learn more about both and wonder which this was done in. Wonder if this would have popped more in spot metering.

Registered on December 24, 2008, 112 Posts, 629 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on August 14, 2010 at 10:54 AM

Jim,

This bird looks a little worse for the ware but I'm sure it's better than it appeared before going to the rehabbers. That yellow bill is very well evidenced in this photo.

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on August 14, 2010 at 1:11 PM

Jim,

I have never seen this species in person and would be thrilled to have been this close. Since this is full frame and the butt is missing I'd be tempted to do an unconventional crop/comp by removing some from the right side and bottom of the frame to make it a close up of the head, neck and the spotted wings.

I don't know if you used any ev compensation when you created this image, but I would have been tempted to use some positive EV compensation given the light it appears you had and increased the ISO for more shutter speed.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on August 14, 2010 at 9:00 PM

I like the detail in the spotted wings and the fact that we can see the eye immersed in all that black, Jim.. It is interesting that we see detail in the bill but not so much in the head. Here's my attempt at answering your question: I guess that it all does have to do with the available light and how much is reflected. You need differences in the amount of reflected light to see detail. The head is absorbing so much of the light and reflecting so little that we just don't see the detail there. I suspect that trying to increase exposure of the head in post processing to see what differences in light reflection there are across the head won't work because the result will be obscured by noise. Looks like Mia's suggestion as to how to do it in the field next time is the way to go. Really nice try though.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 14, 2010 at 11:22 PM

Nice, Jim. I like the head and beak particularly.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments