How a Photographer Snuck Under the Wing of a Loon Parent
To capture this image of a concealed loon chick, teenager Carolina Fraser focused on a split-second moment.
Winning the youth category of the 2016 APP Photography Awardswas a defining moment in the nascent career of young photographer Carolina Fraser. Along with receivingnational recognition for her talent, she earned a trip to the APPon Hog Island, Maine. There she mether currentmentor, photographer Melissa Groo, who has helpedguide Fraser'spath to.It was also on Hog Islandwhere she had her first encounter with Common Loons. "I remember hearing the beautiful calls of the loons that echoed in the mist," she says."I took a few photos of one when it drifted close to shore." Taken with thebeautiful waterbirds, she hoped to photograph them again one day.
Two years passed before Fraser, now 18, finally got her chance by attending an“” photography workshop in British Columbia’s Cariboo region. The small, annual workshop provides photographers with rare opportunities to shootthe birds, which arehighlysensitive to pollution, development, and motor boats (this is onereason the workshop doesn't reveal its location). In fact, the species tends to be agreat indicator of waterquality precisely because the birdsbreed on pristine, crystal-clear lakes of Canada and the northern United States.With just a few other boats on the water and a scattering of rural cabins nearby, the photographers and the loons, including their fluffy chicks, shared the calm waters. From her view on the boat's deck, Fraser could see straight through to the bottom of the lake, where aquatic insect larvae were abundant.
Loon chicks are born with their eyes open and covered in buoyant down. They ditch their nest for the water within a couple of days but depend on their parents to grow and learn for the next two-and-a-half months. Chicks often climb onto their parents’ backs or tuck under their wings for warmth and protection. In their small boats, staying far away from the birds during this critical time in their lives, the photographers observed these behaviors as the loons busily raisedtheir young.
That'swhen Fraserbegan envisioning aperspective-bendingshot. “The first few times I'd seen the loon inside the parent’s wing, I had an idea I wanted to get a unique up-close photo of the chick enclosed,” she says.
She knew she'd haveto be observant and quick. A slight bumpin the parents’ feathers was her only clue that a chick was hiding underneath. But like people, birds stretch, giving Fraser a critical opportunity.Bracing herself against the side of the boat, resting her lens on the gunwale, she patiently waited for her moment. Just as one adultloon lifted itswing to reveal a chick, Frasersnappeda few quick photos, thankful she’d brought the long lensshe needed to reach the chick’s inner world. Later, she slightly cropped the image to completely immerse the viewer.
Fraser, who began taking photos with a family point-and-shoot camera when she was 10, says she enjoyed the challenge of using her zoom to get extra close for thisshot. She also plans tocontinue exploringcreative ways to frameand crop her images.Whether she wants to pursue a professional career, she doesn't know yet. At the moment, photographyhelps get her outside and brings much-needed stress reliefafter a busy day of school. For now, that's enough.