A drop with breakfast - Great Crested Grebe

[Matthew Jones]

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
Central Tablelands, NSW Australia

Canon 7D II | 100-400L II | 1.4x TC III | Jobu Gimbal head | Floating hide
1/1600 | f/8 | ISO 500 | 560mm

I recently made the annual 600km round trip to photograph GCB's and their chicks. The conditions were tough, either too windy or overcast or subject too far away. On the fourth and final session, the subjects, light and weather all came together for this creation and I got to drive home happy.

[arash_hazeghi]

love the feeding interaction, the water drop is sweet! Low angle is very nice and details look sharp. I wish the light was less harsh here which has casted some deep shadows. I might try to recover a bit more detail in the neck blacks

TFS

[Karl Egressy]

Amazing interaction shot at nice low angle.

[adrian dancy]

I agree with Arash. That water drop is fantastic!

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the interaction and that incredible water drop. Excellent image Matthew.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely action, great timing a very pleasing image indeed, maybe a little less contrast will help.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer interaction you've captured and that droplet is a HUGE plus to this amazing behavior image. Yes the light was a bit harsh but I think you could re-processed to improve. I think I might prefer seeing a little more on top and less on the bottom.

[William Dickson]

Very nice indeed. Love the interaction here, and also of course the water droplet.

Well done Matthew

Will

[Arthur Morris]

Wonderful and welcome to BPN. Love the perfect head angle on the adult, the tiny fish, and the drop. You did a great job of getting it all in the frame without looking too, too tight. How did you get so low? a

[Matthew Jones]

Wonderful and welcome to BPN. Love the perfect head angle on the adult, the tiny fish, and the drop. You did a great job of getting it all in the frame without looking too, too tight. How did you get so low? a

Hi Artie, thanks for the warm welcome to BPN, I'm very happy to be here and looking forward to being part of the community

Great question, to get the low point of view I used a home made floating hide and wetsuit so I can get right in the water, as opposed to chest waders which don't work as well for me. This allows me to pretty much get my gimbal mount at water level so the lens is maybe 4 inches above the water line. When I'm feeling particularly brave, have a very stable footing and no wind I take the camera off the gimbal and lay it directly on the hide platform which gets me even lower. I will be posting lots more of this style as the low POV is a particular favourite

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Artie, thanks for the warm welcome to BPN, I'm very happy to be here and looking forward to being part of the community

Great question, to get the low point of view I used a home made floating hide and wetsuit so I can get right in the water, as opposed to chest waders which don't work as well for me. This allows me to pretty much get my gimbal mount at water level so the lens is maybe 4 inches above the water line. When I'm feeling particularly brave, have a very stable footing and no wind I take the camera off the gimbal and lay it directly on the hide platform which gets me even lower. I will be posting lots more of this style as the low POV is a particular favourite

Thanks Matthew and good on you for the floating hide, something that I have always dreamed of doing but never have...

Many thanks for your membership support. Beware the dunkings! a

[Arthur Morris]

ps: Did not notice that you were using my favorite lens :) a