Great Crested Grebe chick - and mum

[Mike Poole]

Hopefully this qualifies as a theme image this month.

One from last year from a floating hide. As per normal, the youngster was riding mums back, then as dad approached the chick reached out for the fish. The next couple of frames has the chick stretching out the neck past mums head but sadly 2 siblings came into shot from behind and were a bit too far OOF for my taste. I was lucky this happened in the shaded part of the lake against a jet black BG

Canon 1dx
500mm f4 + 1.4x ii
ISO 3200
1/1600th f7.1

Mike

[Ilija Dukovski]

I love it. The black BG and the contrast of the birds against it. Very nice.

[Bill Dix]

Sweet. Love the raised feathers of the adult, and the perfectly aligned head positions. Looks great against the black BG. Nicely done.

[Joseph Przybyla]

A beauty, Mike... I love it. The dark/black background really makes the image pop. Nice work all around. Thank you for sharing.

[Stuart Philpott]

Mike,I remember images from these outings and your floating hide. They were spellbinding to me at the time,honestly little has changed, killer Mike no nits just reveling in how gorgeous this frame is. Granted i'm a sucker for very dark bkg's and lit subjects.but that takes nothing away from this
A complete joy kiddo TFS

stu

[Daniel Cadieux]

Not much I would change here, if anything at all! Beautiful, and I bet you had a ball creating this series.

[John Mack]

Very nice really like that dark background and foreground.

[Jay Ing]

Wowzer - just love the color and contrast... mom looks content... chick looks somewhat terrified.

[Glenn Pure]

Very impressive. Nothing more to add to what others have said. A simply beautiful shot, Mike.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I was about to say very impressive Mike but Glenn beat me to it. A super shot - real quality feel to it - well done.

[Alex Becker]

Can't add much more than whats been said here. Love the dark BG with the bit of greens and just such a nice pose from the adult and chick. Would love to get a shot like this. TFS

[gail bisson]

WOW! This is achingly beautiful.
I love everything about it. POV, subjects, black BG all superb.
Wish this was mine.
Did you make your floating hide? Buy it?
Gail

[Mike Poole]

Not much I would change here, if anything at all! Beautiful, and I bet you had a ball creating this series.

Cheers Dan, yes it was great un you just need to be prepared for some 'interesting' looks when getting in and out!

Mike

[Isaac Grant]

As good as the others you posted Mike. The details and light and that black background are all great. Also interested in the hide info. Thanks.

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Mike! I like the dark BG, IQ and intimate moment.

[arash_hazeghi]

lovely pose and low angle, stands out against the nice dark BG. sharp with good details. in a perfect world the chick's beak would not have intersected with mom's neck but that'a s minor issue

TFS

[Mike Poole]

WOW! This is achingly beautiful.
I love everything about it. POV, subjects, black BG all superb.
Wish this was mine.
Did you make your floating hide? Buy it?
Gail

As good as the others you posted Mike. The details and light and that black background are all great. Also interested in the hide info. Thanks.

Hi Gail / Isaac, thanks for the comments.


With regards to the hide, it was made for me by a mate at work who is into building all sorts of things and loves little projects like this, but it looks quite easy to do.


It’s basically a square with a hole in the middle which is about 3ft either way. The sides and back are made with old decking boards on the bottom, with a layer of some marine foam, then another decking board to make a ‘sandwich’.


The front of the hide is similar, but the middle third only has the lower decking board, not the foam or top decking layer. On this middle third is a screw pointing upwards to which I can attach a normal gimbal head for the lens to get as low as possible.


To make it easier to transport, it was halved in 2 along each length and the 2 halves just join together on a hinge. That is the only messing about bit but really helps with carrying it.


For camo, there are a few options, but I just have a camouflage bag hide - https://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/retail/acatalog/C33-Lightweight-Throw-over-hide--bag-hide-.html which I drape over me. Seemed to work as well as anything else I’ve tried


I was a little worried about stability, but it will actually take my weight if necessary – I can rest my arms on the sides and lift my feet off the bottom of the lake with zero sinking!


Good fun if you’re prepared to answer whatever questions get thrown your way!


Mike

[gail bisson]

Hi Mike,
Can you post a picture of your hide with different views of it?
Gail

Hi Gail / Isaac, thanks for the comments.


With regards to the hide, it was made for me by a mate at work who is into building all sorts of things and loves little projects like this, but it looks quite easy to do.


It’s basically a square with a hole in the middle which is about 3ft either way. The sides and back are made with old decking boards on the bottom, with a layer of some marine foam, then another decking board to make a ‘sandwich’.


The front of the hide is similar, but the middle third only has the lower decking board, not the foam or top decking layer. On this middle third is a screw pointing upwards to which I can attach a normal gimbal head for the lens to get as low as possible.


To make it easier to transport, it was halved in 2 along each length and the 2 halves just join together on a hinge. That is the only messing about bit but really helps with carrying it.


For camo, there are a few options, but I just have a camouflage bag hide - https://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/retail/acatalog/C33-Lightweight-Throw-over-hide--bag-hide-.html which I drape over me. Seemed to work as well as anything else I’ve tried


I was a little worried about stability, but it will actually take my weight if necessary – I can rest my arms on the sides and lift my feet off the bottom of the lake with zero sinking!


Good fun if you’re prepared to answer whatever questions get thrown your way!


Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike,
Can you post a picture of your hide with different views of it?
Gail

I'm off to work shortly, I'll try and remember tomorrow and post a couple up

Mike

[William Dickson]

Late to the party here Mike. I agree with all said about this image, it is really beautiful. Nothing to add as it has all been said. Probably one of your best IMO. Very well done. Also interested in the floating hide situation, as there is a loch, close to me, where this type of hide would be perfect.

Thanks for sharing this wonderful image.

Will

[Mike Singh]

Beautiful photograph: composition, background, perspective and processing.

[Mike Poole]

Gail / Isaac / Will, hope this makes a bit of sense, iPhone pics only I'm afraid, I realised today the only lens I own under 100mm is a fisheye!

An overview of the base, just not screwed together. We made a slight alteration which is shown here, where the foam is cut away at the front at an angle, which allows more horizontal movement of the lens.



This is a cross section of the front right piece showing how it was all sandwiched together. At the bottom is a decking board, about 8 inches wide. There is another slimmer decking board at the top, and a 3rd piece joining them together for a bit more strength. The yellow bits are old pieces of high density marine foam which is used for the buoyancy - it really does hold weight incredibly well in the water. Just screws and glue holding the pieces together.

Towards the right you can just about see the low front piece which has the screw for the gimbal head (or ball head if you want but I think a gimbal is more secure) which rests just on top of the water and has the lens about 8 inches above the water.



Heres a view from the front with it all fit together



Finally, a last picture showing how the joints are attached. It would be difficult to carry and transport all in one piece, so we cut each side in half. The bigger blocks of wood just have screw holes through which I put a bolt tightened with a wing nut. We were a little concerned this wouldn't be strong enough, so each joint has a strong wooden 'dowling' pole which goes through a bit of the marine foam, through the joint block and into the opposite side. The photo probably makes more sense than my words!



Once its all screwed together, I put on my drysuit, get in the water, attach the lens to the gimbal, then drape myself in the bag hide I mentioned in an earlier post. Then just try and avoid any awkward looks and questions and go for a walk round the lake!

Any more questions, let me know

Mike

[Mike Poole]

Hi Mike,
Can you post a picture of your hide with different views of it?
Gail

Late to the party here Mike. I agree with all said about this image, it is really beautiful. Nothing to add as it has all been said. Probably one of your best IMO. Very well done. Also interested in the floating hide situation, as there is a loch, close to me, where this type of hide would be perfect.

Thanks for sharing this wonderful image.

Will

As good as the others you posted Mike. The details and light and that black background are all great. Also interested in the hide info. Thanks.

Gail / Isaac / Will

Just tagging you in with the above post

Mike

[gail bisson]

Thanks so much Mike. This looks like a great winter project for my ( newly) semi-retired hubby! I have this page bookmarked for future reference.
Gail

[William Dickson]

Thanks for that Mike. Very interesting, and I think a great way to get lovely images of the Grebes, etc, as you proved. I think I will try this, along the same lines as you explained so well.

Will

[Jay Shah]

Mike that is an awesome image.