Vermont Loon

I’m normally pretty much a landscape and macro photographer. But reading @Keith_Bauer excellent article “Including the Environment - Context Matters”, inspired me to post this image here. Keith, the article was very well written, and discusses a very important aspect of wildlife photography. I like to think of it as “More is More”. I know this is more of a landscape than avian image, but I thought it was very much in the spirit of Keith’s article. So here is my first post in the avian forum.

One chilly October morning I went to photograph sunrise at one of my favorite autumn landscape photography locations, Jobs Pond in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The cold air generated some wonderful mist on the water, and there were beautiful reflections of the foliage. Then in a moment of serendipity, I heard the haunting call of a Loon as it cruised across the pond towards me. I waited until it got into an area with more fog, and this image was the result.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

any critique or comment is welcome.

1 Like

Beautifully done Ed!
Of course, I would expect no less from you. The Fall colors, fog, sets off the atmosphere really well.
But this image wouldn’t be half as nice without that loon!

Thanks Karl, I agree 100%, without the Loon this image is nothing special.

@Ed_McGuirk . This is a marvelous image. The mood, the mist, the light and the loon all come together for a magical moment in time. Thank you for your kind words on the article that I wrote. This is a perfect example of how effective an image can be even with the bird occupying a very small fraction of the frame.

Just a marvelous image. Thanks for sharing it in the Avian forum.

What a beautiful image design. The mixture of shadow and light are fantastic, and the loon brings everything together. If mine, I’d bring the darks down a touch to give them a little more depth. But I understand if that’s not the tone you’re going for.

An excellent example of an environmental wildlife shot. The loon is probably not even a thousandth of the shot, but it definitely makes the shot. You can almost hear it calling through the fog. Great first avian post.

A beautiful image, Ed, and exactly what I think of when reading Keith Bauer’s article.

A beautiful image, Ed. Placement of the loon is excellent. I love the mood of this image.

A wonderful image - both in scenery and mood. And, yes, the Loon is essential. I call this sort of photography ‘less is more’ (less referring to the size of the bird, and more to the resulting room for surrounding). One small thing I might consider is darkening the hill in the BG a little, to have some more emphasis on the lake & loon. But, it’s fine as presented ! Cheers, Hans

@Han_Schutten @Hans_Overduin @Allen_Brooks @Keith_Bauer @Dennis_Plank @Lyle_Gruby
Thank you all for your comments, I’m glad that you enjoyed this image, and for letting me sneak a sort of landscape into the avian forum.

But Keith’s article resonated with me, and I felt compelled to post it here.

1 Like

I agree with the other comments, Ed. Everything comes together really nicely here - the mist, hill in the shadow, light in the background, and of course the loon. Since the scene does not have any major identifying characteristics (like it is not of an obvious place), you could consider flipping it. It is a tiny thing but I think the photo would feel just a little more harmonious if the loon were traveling to the right. Beyond that tiny quibble, this is a wonderful “wildlife in context” photo.

It would be a very nice landscape on its own but the loon gets your attention immediately and provides an enhanced sense of tranquility that makes the image special. Nicely seen and photographed, Ed!

@Sarah_Marino @Gary_Minish thank you for your comments, I appreciate them.

Sarah, great call on flipping the image horizontal, it makes it so much more dynamic looking!!
I also liked @Hans_Overduin suggestion to darken the mountain, and I added a little more contrast in the reflection. Then I lightly dodged the area near the loon to give it more emphasis. Here is a rework reflecting these changes.

I agree that this is really a landscape containing a bird. The rework looks noticeably better. Lowering the sunny area above the tree line did the trick.

I don’t understand why flipping makes it feel any more dynamic. Honestly, didn’t do a thing for my impression of the image. Well, that’s not quite true, because I know based on the original which way the mountains were, which way the light was coming from and the direction of the bird, so I find it worse. I much prefer the original not only for it’s direction, but the mood was better for my viewing pleasure.

I agree with that. Flipping has no effect on me neither. But I just figure that I’m not wired the same as others.

A beautiful scene, Ed, and the fog and the loon are certainly a nice addition.

I have to say that I scrolled all the way to the bottom before writing and I love the flipped version and the tonality of it. I also agree that without the loon this is nothing special for a landscape but put the two together and you have something special. For me, the fog is what really kicks this one into high gear. Without the fog, well, you get the idea. That rework is just AMAZING! I have no idea why I like the flipped version better. Maybe it’s because we read from left ot right and this just looks like the right way for the loon to be headed because to me it’s SO MUCH BETTER! Well done Ed.

Very, very late to the party on this one but this is my kind of environment and I couldn’t not say something! I know it is Vermont but it could easily be Algonquin Park here in Ontario. I absolutely know how you must have felt when this loon came drifting through the mist and into view. Sometimes its hard to take the picture - I get so caught up in the mystical majesty of it. The rework is excellent - just a little richer. But Sarah nailed it with her great observation and suggestion. Now, this may not be true universally for all people ( I wonder, for example, if this would be true for Israelis or Japanese) but the largest part of the world reads from left to right. I suspect, in terms of the way our brains are wired that there is a reason for that. It would seem as though it is the natural path our eye wants to take within a frame and I think it makes a huge difference in how I experience and flow with this image. Very nicely seen and captured.

@Shirley_Freeman @David_Haynes @Kerry_Gordon thank you for your comments, I’m glad that you liked the image

You’ve got to love the transition zone from the hardwood to boreal forest. In New England, the character of the forest is like this in only the very far northern part of VT, NH and ME, but it is my favorite part of the region.