Australasian Grebe at sunset

[Glenn Pure]

Another of our grebe species. This one is a little smaller and more common than the Hoary-headed Grebe I posted a week or so back. Also taken during the same session when I captured that grebe shot. Conditions were clear sky and dead calm. Much of the colour is from the rusty earth bank of the dam enhanced by the golden light. In this shot the bird was positioned so those features were in the background. BTW, I haven't fiddled with the saturation on this or warmed the colour. It is as captured The bird is actually in shadow and I've had to select and lift it a little as well as rotate the frame because I was so uncomfortable lying on the ground that I couldn't always get the camera level. For once, I was in the right place at the right time, and the birds cooperated as well. Rarely happens to me. Crop is almost full frame.

As always, thank you for looking and for any comments you are kind enough to share.

Technical: Canon 80D with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Mk II at 400mm handheld. Manual exposure 1/320 sec, f7.1, ISO 1600. Processed in Canon DPP 4 (digital lens optimiser @ 50, sharpness = 2.5, crop, lighting adjustments, reduced luminance NR) then exported 16 bit TIFF to Photoshop Elements with Neat Image NR plugin. Modest NR to bird and stronger NR to background. Bird only sharpened in PSE (Sharpness tool, remove Gaussian Blur, 0.3 or 0.4 pixels at 50%) after final size reduction.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Glenn, I really like the light and colours in this, and lying down has achieved a great perspective. I do like the droplets showing up on his back. Although you mentioned that you have lifted the exposure, I would try and lift a touch more but just on the Grebe. As you have also kept the full reflection, I would add a little more space at the bottom.

[John Mack]

The light in the water and the background are fantastic. The composition and detail on the grebe are nice.

[gail bisson]

WOWSER!.
Love the color of the water and the crop. I could see a version with a bit more room on the bottom but I like it as is.
Only suggestion I have is to blend that white circular area just behind the neck,
Gail

[Bill Dix]

What a sweet shot, Glenn. Beautiful colors in the water, nice position of the grebe. Ditto the suggestions above re. more space at bottom (just a sliver, if you have it), and blend the whitish spot. And maybe just a touch of selective sharpening on the head.

[Isaac Grant]

Just perfect light here Glenn. A real beauty. Pose is great as is your head angle. I agree with a little more room below for the reflection to breath. Also agree that the head does not look as sharp as the rest of the body. Was the focus point on the head or the body?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Another lusciously coloured image! I agree with a touch more below, and blending away the faint whitish spot touching the neck, but man this is really gorgeous. Great low angle too.

[Glenn Pure]

Thank you all. I was aiming for a bit more below but because I had to tilt the frame to recover a level water surface, I lost a bit off the bottom. I couldn't easily bring any more in without some complicated fiddles or canvas extensions. White blob noted. I did blend one in the upper right but missed the one behind the neck. Close inspection of the RAW indicates the head is as sharp as the rest of the bird. I think the lack of fine contrast there has conspired to make it look softer and not come up as strongly in the output sharpening stage which looks for contrast differences to enhance. I have quite a few more frames from this session but you may be getting sick of them by now so reluctant to post any more.

[annmpacheco]

LAte to the party, all has been said, lovely little grebe, and the colors are so lovely., I am tempted to find some grebe shots I haven't processed! Love the water drops and the eye, and POV

[Alex Becker]

Another great shot and really lovely colors. Some good suggestions above. Certainly not sick of this series yet Glenn so be sure to post some more! love the water drops on the back. TFS