Loons

[jroovers]

Some loon shots from my canoe in Algonquin PP

May 2015 Loons-12 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-11 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-9 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-7 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-4 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-2 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-1 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

May 2015 Loons-5 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

 

[IPT]

loons are so incredible! Nice images. Could be my laptop but the last few look just a tad flat. Contrast seems a bit crisper in the first two, or maybe it's just me?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Loons are so beautiful, thanks for sharing!

 

[Reef Bass]

loons are so incredible! Nice images. Could be my laptop but the last few look just a tad flat. Contrast seems a bit crisper in the first two, or maybe it's just me?

+1. Not just you.

Loons are so beautiful, thanks for sharing!

+1

And they make interestingly weird calls.

Thanks Jordan.

 

[jroovers]

Thanks, loons are definitely a unique bird, nothing compares to their calls... I could listen to them forever

loons are so incredible! Nice images. Could be my laptop but the last few look just a tad flat. Contrast seems a bit crisper in the first two, or maybe it's just me?

+1. Not just you.

You are right IPT and RB. The pics are posted essentially in reverse chronological order - the last ones were taken right at dawn, basically between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. The last couple are noisy too given the higher ISO. The lighting early was overcast and very flat (and not the good overcast where it makes the light nice and diffuse). Over the hours these were shot, the lighting changed as the sun came up and the cloud cover also changed.

As with any birds with white (or black), I found it difficult to expose properly without blowing out portions of the bird... and also highlights in the water... this shot for example is nice and there is good detail in the bird's black feathers, but the whites are blown out and there is no detail in the bird's white breast:

May 2015 Loons-9 by Jordan Roovers, on Flickr

I tried backing down the whites and highlights in post, but too far gone. I'll try changing the contrast in the last few and reposting, and see if they look a little better.

The lighting for the first picture is what I would call perfect. The sun sort of partially peeked through the clouds, but was still somewhat diffuse.

 

[Reef Bass]

I agree with your assessment, and with the first pic being very nice.

I also find it can be tough to not blow the whites on waterfowl while still trying to get adequate exposure for the rest of the image. Perhaps it's because there is often no shade away from banks, or the water itself can be very reflective, or both?

 

[jroovers]

I also find it can be tough to not blow the whites on waterfowl while still trying to get adequate exposure for the rest of the image. Perhaps it's because there is often no shade away from banks, or the water itself can be very reflective, or both?

I think you are right about the shadows and the water. So tough with white and black birds, or the combo of the two, to get light that is perfect exposure wise... I think the light right at dawn and dusk is best, and next best is overcast conditions.

 

[Doogy]

Great pictures!

 

[IPT]

Yeah I'm not even sure cameras have the dynamic range to get that span in some conditions. Best to expose for the darks to eliminate noise then like you said try and save the whites in post. The trick would be to "just" catch the details in the darks overexposing the whites as little as possible. Maybe, then you could save them. It's a razors edge though and in some conditions impossible until the dynamic ranges of cameras is improved.

Those low light shots are a challenge but sometimes better then the high contrast direct light ones!