Red-necked Phalarope

[Bill Dix]

For a little bird, this guy was kicking up quite a bow wave as he raced toward me in the shallow water, ahead of the larger swell behind him. Taken on a cloudy morning at Lake Myvatn, Iceland, on July 4.

D7200, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 2000, 1/2000s @ f/7.1 manual.

[Tom Sarver]

Very nice perspective.

Tom

[annmpacheco]

Hi Bill, nice behavior you caught, is he churning up food? I like your POV, makes me think of the "perfect storm wave in the BG..." nice and sharp and i would wish for more brightness in the eyes, or the left eye as there seems to be a catchlight?

[Glennie Passier]

Bill, love the POV, the BG wave and the bow wave. I love the subtle colours in the wave. He looks like he was in a hurry. The bird is nice and sharp but as Ann has mentioned, I think just a little more brightness in the eyes.

Great stuff. You must have been underwater.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Good POV indeed, that bow wake is impressive, and I love the looming BG wave. I like the overall grey look to the image with a touch of reds. I do feel like the head feathers could use more sharpening as posted to bring out the fine detail. I was not sure about the drop below at first, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it :-)

[Bill Jobes]

Agree with earlier comments, Bill. This is a fabulous POV photograph. Of course the bane of cloudy days can be diminished catch light.

Re the POV, were you prone on the shore? How high above sand was the lens ?

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for your comments. Interestingly, I wasn't quite as low as this makes it look. My recollection is that I was kneeling behind a lowered tripod. I'm thinking it may be the result of my having cloned out a few distracting bubble clusters in the near foreground. And, of course, the magic of the long lens. Daniel, I wasn't sure about the drop either, but decided to leave it in. Ann, I could try to brighten the bird's left eye a bit more. I don't know if he was churning up food in this image; but I have another where the "whirlpool" of his spinning action is evident.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Outstanding image quality, Bill. Like your crop a lot, the light, and agree the predominant grey with the touch of colors on this RNPH make for an especially beautiful image.

Geoffrey