Clark's Grebe

[Sharna Lee]

I finally found the name for this bird after a few days. I searched everywhere but this one was very hard to find.
While out photographing dragonflies the other day this bird swam up and posed for a few shots before ducking into the water and vanishing.
I photographed to close to his BB so I had to add bg to this image in CS3. Thank you Doug West for the link to the tutorial a few months ago. I can't believe I remembered how to do it after all this time.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/ittyboo9358/dragons_0118Post.jpg


Canon XTi - 100-400 L IS in Aperture Priority Mode.
F/8
1/500
ISO 200
@375mm

Comments & Critics appreciated.

Sharna

[Steve Canuel]

Hi Sharna,
Love the hairpiece on this guy! The pattern of the wake behind him looks a bit unnatural. Is this where you added canvas? Good head angle for this one. I think this image would be a good candidate for more of a pano crop due to the almost equal size of the head/neck and the reflection.
Steve

[Alfred Forns]

HI Shama The rear does look he has tracks !!!!

Would suggest leveling and do agree on the pano Good looking bird and love that eye Only softer light would have made it better !!!

[Arthur Morris]

Nice COMP and good EXP. Lots of good suggestions above. As Alfred said, the harsh light is the big problem with this image... Was this handheld?

[Sharna Lee]

Thanks Guys! I added about an inch to the whole back of the picture.

Yes Artie,
This was hand held. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll work on those.
And the lighting I couldn't help because of the time of day I went out. I'll try to catch one earlier in the day or later in the evening. Thanks again for the comments.

Sharna

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Sharna, Your clone stamp work has left telltale repetitive patterns... As you learn more (esp. about Quick Masking) you can avoid that. As for handholding, with static or slowly moving subjects a tripod always best to ensure sharpness...