Pied-billed Grebe... breeding colors

[Joseph Przybyla]

I was photographing a Tri-colored Heron dip fishing when this grebe surfaced in front of me. I quickly captured a few images. Images captured at Circle B Bar Reserve in Polk County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, image captured at 400mm
1/2000 F/7.1 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 900 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2019 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about Circle B Bar Reserve in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide that Artie and I co-wrote. It is available on the Birds As Art Online Store.

[William Dickson]

Hi Joe, nice frame..I like the detail you captured. Nice pose and reflection. It looks a wee bit bright here, may try lowering the highlights.

Will

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

I would have moved the subject off the center a little.

In my opinion Selective burning would help the image

I can see another version in vertical orientation.

TFS

[Joseph Przybyla]

I would have moved the subject off the center a little.

In my opinion Selective burning would help the image

I can see another version in vertical orientation.

TFS

Hi Krishna, thank you for viewing and commenting. As always I moved the bird around before deciding on where to place it in the frame. I chose this composition to preserve/not cut the concentric subtle ripples around the bird. Regarding you suggestion of selective burning, after reading it I visited the image checking the RBG values in the bright areas. The lower bill averages 93.4% or 238 which is reasonable for the white area. If the bill had more detail rather than being smooth I might have gone lower and also reduced the highlights. The next brightest area is the patch on the neck. The brightest area is about 80% or 204 well below clipping. Maybe there is more detail there but those feathers are wet from the bird surfacing just before capturing the image. I had in post processing burned that area with the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom but quickly those areas began to go gray so I deleted it. Also in the forum viewing images displays/monitors differ, so the image may be shown brighter or darker depending on the quality of the screen and how it is profiled. I profile my Eizo screen to 120cd, 6500K, and 2.2 gamma. I am not sure if everyone uses those settings. Anyways, thanks for viewing and commenting, I truly appreciate your comments and suggestions.

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Hi Joe,

Lovely capture of this small beauty. Like the look on his face as he realizes you are right in front of him. Beads of water on his back a plus.

Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot Jo, I too would have been considering ideal composition trying to work out which shows the subject to best advantage.
Hope you don't mind but I attach an edit for your consideration, I have adjusted the luminosity on the bill slightly WDYT?

[John Mack]

Love the still water. The alert pose is great as well. Details look quite nice.