I finally worked out the issues with my web site and can now post images from it on this forum. Nearly all of the images on my site are too large so I will present only newly taken ones rather than mess with resizing. At any event, I located a nesting pair of red-necked grebes in eastern Washington state last weekend and managed several photos. It was mid day in the hot sun so the light was very harsh and certainly not ideal.
Welcome to BPN, Bob! Very nice first post. I like the sharpness head angle, eye contact and calling pose and agree with your self-critique about the light. You could try to tone down the highlights and to get more details in the blacks using curves. Keep them coming and please also take the time to leave a few comments once in a while!
Hey Bob, big welcome to BPN!! Nice start with a great species. The main issue here has been identified by yourself - that being the light (quality and angle). Great pose, the timing on your part was spot on.