Went to Greenlake (North Seattle) early Sunday morning. Looked like the sun may come out for a change, but didn't. Clouds were not dark, but definitively present. I laid down flat next to a tree at the edge of the lake by a little cove. There is @ 2ft drop to water level. I used the cement ledge as support and fired a few shots (). The dark colors look a bit on the brown side, where I thought these may be a bit darker. This is a first for me. Next time I photograph these I will pay better attention to the colors while in the field. Because I want to get the best possible images of these, of the pied-billed and the horned grebes, as well as the hooded mergansers that hang out there, I finally ordered a 580EX II Speedlite today and will be taking it to the same location as soon as I get it (and learn how to use it)...
Beautiful grebe, Enrique, very nicely captured & composed. Love that red eye, nice details, and the wake trail is a nice touch. Calm water makes for nice neutral BG. Looks great as is, but also might try a pano type crop, taking some off top and maybe just a bit off bottom and off the left too. This would keep head from being too close to the center. Still very nicely done!
Lovely capture, Enrique. This is a gorgeous bird, and I think you've done it justice. You were shooting from a nice low angle. The bird is giving you a nice head angle. The background is soft in color and texture and really makes the eye and bill stand out. The colors look good to me. I would play around with the crop some until you find the one that works the best.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions Brendan, Marina and Alan. I went back to look at the birds at the same spot and I now believe that I was right in my original suspicion that the birds are a bit darker that in the OP.
I played with the crop, and added contrast to the midtones to see how that looked. I like the results. This crop is now a little shy of 36% of the original number of pixels. I thought it would look worse than it does. What do you think?
I still would prefer not to crop as much, but I have to work with the lens I own at the moment. I will figure a way to get in the water and try to get closer to these birds.
Western Grebe
). The dark colors look a bit on the brown side, where I thought these may be a bit darker. This is a first for me. Next time I photograph these I will pay better attention to the colors while in the field. Because I want to get the best possible images of these, of the pied-billed and the horned grebes, as well as the hooded mergansers that hang out there, I finally ordered a 580EX II Speedlite today and will be taking it to the same location as soon as I get it (and learn how to use it)...
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