Red-necked Grebe Juvenile

Attachment 143115

Hermitage Park, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

The photo was taken about 8 pm, and the sunset time was near 10 pm. The orange hue was due to the wildfire haze covering the sun, making the entire day golden. It was also quite windy, the water was a bit of wavy because of the wind; thus, the grebe was on an incline. I think the grebe was trying to balance itself by stretching its wings.

Canon EOS 7D | Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS + Kenko 1.4x Teleplus PRO 300 DGX + Canon Extender EF 1.4x II.
Manual mode, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 800, handheld.

All C&Cs are welcome!

Thanks,
Raymond

An unusual capture both in terms of the light and pose. The bird's face seems a bit soft to me so I wonder if a little selective sharpening would help. Regards, Ian.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ian Wilson

An unusual capture both in terms of the light and pose. The bird's face seems a bit soft to me so I wonder if a little selective sharpening would help. Regards, Ian.

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Thanks Ian! You're right! I think the face does need selective sharpening. Note that the bird was thoroughly focused, but the softer feather on the face did not pickup as much sharpening (via unsharp mask) as the wings. I will look into it early tomorrow morning.

Raymond

I like the dynamic pose and low angle, but the focus locked on the near wing leaving the head quite soft, sharpening it more will probably make it look crunchy/grainy.

TFS

The light quality is excellent. It's nice to see the species at this stage of development without a parent bird in the frame. The wing stretch is so very good, just wish the dof had covered the bird's head/face...critical sharpness is definitely on the left wing...maybe other frames without the wing stretch will reveal a sharper body/head...

Beautiful Light on this Species. Great shooting angle as well.

Superb pose with full up wings. nice HA, nice lights and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

Thanks for the comments above! Here's the re-edit:

Attachment 143136

Raymond

Excellent image Ray, like the repost.

Great capture, Ray. Lovely light and pose. Repost is a big improvement.