June Loon

[BCrose]

[IzzieK]

Nicely done,Monte...couldn't fault it.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Monte,

Because we've seen your Loons before, I know they have apparently dis-proportionately large heads - and here, combined with the compression of the long focal length used, it gives a compelling composition.

Well done, Dave

[John 2]

That's a cracking shot Monte.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[DickyOZ]

Excellent capture, pixel perfect!

[Ziggy]

Well done. Like the POV in this one.

[Dave A]

Outstanding!

Dave

[BCrose]

Thanks for the positive comments, greatly appreciated.

Of all the birds I photograph the Common Loon is my favourite, although hard to capture unless the light is right with the extreme contrast of black and white combined with their elusiveness they seem to draw me to go out on the kayak time and time again to try and capture the perfect image.

I took this shot as I circled around the bird and the light changed and wind calmed a bit.

[DanK]

Monte,

Great shots. I have repeatedly tried to get photos of common loons, and not a single one has been good. Can you give some information about these shots? What body format and focal length did you use? And what shutter speed and aperture? The exif appears to be stripped.

thanks

Dan

[BCrose]

Monte,

Great shots. I have repeatedly tried to get photos of common loons, and not a single one has been good. Can you give some information about these shots? What body format and focal length did you use? And what shutter speed and aperture? The exif appears to be stripped.

thanks

Dan

Thanks Dan,
To begin with I approach very slowly with a Kayak, this gives me a great advantage allowing me to get closer without getting into their comfort zone and spooking them.
As for gear and settings.

Nikon D500, 500mm f/4 VR lens.
Aperture Priority, F/5.6, 1/1600, ISO120 on these images but I leave the ISO on auto with a max setting of 1600 and min shutter setting of 1/1600

Hope this helps

[DanK]

Thanks Dan,
To begin with I approach very slowly with a Kayak, this gives me a great advantage allowing me to get closer without getting into their comfort zone and spooking them.
As for gear and settings.

Nikon D500, 500mm f/4 VR lens.
Aperture Priority, F/5.6, 1/1600, ISO120 on these images but I leave the ISO on auto with a max setting of 1600 and min shutter setting of 1/1600

Hope this helps

Monte,

thanks very much. I also use a kayak, but mine is a closed sea kayak, and fumbling for the camera between my knees doesn't help. My basic problem is that my lens is too short, I think. I also use a crop for this purpose, but my longest is 280mm (70-200 + 1.4x). I've been mulling over whether I would do enough with it to warrant getting a longer lens, probably the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary, which from what I have read is a real bargain and quite good optically.

Dan

[Wavelength]

Classic and more!!!

[BCrose]

You would need to get in pretty close to get detailed images at 280mm. Hard to do with Loons.
I shot this image this morning in the rain...not enough light and high ISO kills the details.

[terrib]

These are beautiful shots. The smooth water makes a huge difference. I've only seen a loon once and he didn't hang around long before diving under and popping back up far away.

[Rita]

Your images are doing justice to the loon. They are magnificent birds.