Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) Yellowstone Lake

[steve torna]

I am heading to Yellowstone next week and hope to capture Eared Grebes and Harlequin Ducks on Lee - Hardy Rapids and Soda Butte Creek. I thought I would post a Grebe image from May 2014. I isolated a small portion of the hundreds of Eared Grebes floating in a tightly packed flock as they rolled back and forth between the ice and the shore on Yellowstone Lake. If one pixel peeps a bit of noise and some loss of detail is evident. Last May was the first time that I have ever seen such a massive flock of grebes. I do have several images of the entire flock. I am eager to read your comments. Please critique. thanks - steve

Canon 7D, 500mm f/4 IS + 1.4x, tripod, ISO 320, 1/500 second @ f/8, manual mode. Post LR 5, highlights down, shadows up, NR 25, sharpen 36, Out of camera color ( 0 sat), 50% crop.

"Podiceps" is latin and refers to the posterior position of the legs while "nigri" and "collis" mean black and neck respectively. Therefore, Podiceps nigricollis is the duck with a black neck and posteriorly positioned legs.

[Diane Miller]

A surprising and very cool tapestry effect! Looks well processed but hard to see much detail at this size.

Look forward to seeing what you get on the upcoming trip!

[Carolyn Arnesen]

I like this a lot. Tapestry is a good word for it - the pattern of recurring colors makes me want to lean in and look more closely. Good luck on your upcoming trip. I didn't know there were Harlequin in Yellowstone.