Howdy!! Great crested grebe

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 5D IV Canon 500mm f4L IS +1.4TC III
Auto ISO 1000+ 0.67, 1/2000 sec f8
ACR + PSCC

[Randy Stout]

Jon:

Such handsome birds. Like the foot waggle, soft background, red eye.
I might be tempted to crop down a bit from the top, purely personal taste.

How big of lake was this bird on? Just for my education about their preferred habitat.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Jon, I think you need to hire Randy's hide.

Randy beat me to it, again a tad off the top ie 16x9, but also a little bit of a curves just pulls some more tonal colour/range out. Love the colours and I prefer this to the brick water. The leg up is different, but perhaps not for all.

TFS
Steve

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks Randy + Steve.
The grebes may be found in all sizes of ponds/lakes but as a rule of thumb they are more usually seen in larger lakes say 50 sq.m upwards. They can become quite attenuated to humans - especially anglers, sometimes their nests are only a few feet from where an angler may have set up. Their approachability varies from one locale to another but it is not uncommon for them to swim nonchalantly by at a distance of 2-3m. More often than not 500 - 1000mm lens required. Different if you have a boat with a hide but in this country it is not easy to get permission to do this.
Steve - yes repost better no question about it.

[dankearl]

You needed the foot sharp...

[John Mack]

The raised leg is pretty neat. Like the low angle and the overall composition.