Catching the Red-eye

[Vaughn Larsen]

Western Grebe, taken April 21, 2020 at 6:42 AM probably about a half hour after sunrise. I was trying for a Wood duck in a marshy area of Chatfield Reservoir in Littleton Colorado, when this Grebe emerged and started fishing along the shoreline.


Nikon D500
500mm F/4
1/2000 f 7.1
ISO 560
-.67 exposure compensation

PS - smoothing out shoreline, a dark log in background.

[Jack Backs]

Very nice frame. Sharp where it needs to be. Like the water droplet, too bad the body is slightly out of focus.

[Randy Stout]

Vaughn:

Great shooting angle, water colors, brown and blue, nicely complimentary. Plus that eye. Drip nice as well.

The blacks on the head are blocked, might try to open them up just a bit to show a bit more detail.

I do agree with Jack about the sharpness of the body.

I love wood ducks, but this is a nice stand in!

Cheers

Randy

[Brian Sump]

Vaughn, another gorgeous water color and the blue splash of the wake is awesome!

Head looks nice and sharp and love the water drop. Eye is so cool.

You might could have left a little exposure here in looking at the whites. Maybe that would have helped bring some depth to the darker areas?

Perhaps you would be so kind as to show me such wonderful waters in the spring ;-)

[Dorian Anderson]

The low angle is fantastic, and the lighting is about perfect. The water drop is super cool as well. These high-contrast subjects are tough in this ultra-low light as getting the blacks without blowing the whites is a real challenge. I agree with the others about trying to squeeze more detail out of the blacks. Might also clone the two tiny reflections/highlights right where the body meets the water. But that's really knit-picky.

[Vaughn Larsen]

Thanks Jack - agree would have liked a little more feather detail.

[Vaughn Larsen]

Randy thanks for the feedback, I definitely tend towards saving the whites, I'll try to run this back through the newer ACR and see what happens.

[Vaughn Larsen]

Thanks Brian - looking forward to it.

[Vaughn Larsen]

Appreciate the comments Dorian, and I pondered those little specular highlights a few times, will give it a shot.

[John Mack]

Looks great all around. I like the low angle and the pose. The drop of water off the bill tops it off.