A Rare Visit from a Red-Necked Phalarope

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 1D4
500mm +1.4x
Gitzo/Wimberley spread as low as possible

1/1600 sec
f/6.3
ISO 640

This adult female red-necked phalarope showed up on a local pond just yesterday and was gone by this morning. The pond is 3 miles or so from my house and I was overjoyed. Had never seen one before. A very rare visitor to central NY!
I spent a couple hours photographing her in the early evening, lying flat on my belly at the pond's edge. I was struck by how small she was and how quickly she moved rounding up bugs. She was busy eating the whole time I watched her. I wish her safe journeys up to the Arctic. What a gift to see her.
About a 25% crop, added some canvas up top. NR on BG, some cloning out of white splotches, some sharpening, whites recovery on throat.
Am interested to hear what others think about the crop/comp, I'm not sure about it (e.g., include the reflection even though not perfect? but looks weird when I cut it off).
Thanks so much in advance for any comments/critiques.
PS That spec highlight at tip of bill bugs me, will have to remove it.

[gail bisson]

Hi Melissa,
This is a hard one...I see your dilemma re: the uneven reflection of the head but you are right that it would look weird if you cut the head off. I think I would cut it off at junction of body and head. What bothers me the most are the white splotches in the BG and FG. I find them very distracting. I would definitely get rid of them. You also have 2 dust bunnies in BG on upper left.
You have a nice bow wake and good swimming position towards you. The color of the water is lovely.
IQ of the bird is good but, as you said, the whites on the throat are blown. Do you have another image where the neck isn't blown out and you could copy and paste it in?
I hope this bird flies north to my pond in Ingonish!!
See you soon,
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

Love this one, Melissa. The bird is gorgeous, as is the light, HA, low angle and the green. You have nice details. It looks as though you cloned out the specular highlight on the bird's beak but forgot to clone it out on the reflection. You need a little bit of CCW rotation. You will note that the reflection of the beak and tail don't quite match their reflection.

You must have been so excited to see this gorgeous bird.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I spent a couple of days photographing one of these last Fall up here, but it was a juvenile. I'd love to see and photograph a breeding plumage one like this (in phalaropes it's the female who has the nicer plumage!!). Nice swimming pose, and great colours. Great wake. I actually wish you had a bit room below as the end of the reflection is quite close to the edge (1/3 less above, and the equivalent more below). At the same time I also wish the bottom was clearer. Cropping as per Gail is also an option to explore. Well done!

[Bill Dix]

Great find, Melissa, and nicely captured. Were it mine, I think I'd go with a crop somewhere across the red throat of the reflection. To my eye it's actually CW rotation that's needed, but only a bit, to align the tip of the bill with its reflection. We had five of these guys drop into a local pond after a rainstorm the other day, in central NJ. One of them was almost dragged under by a large snapping turtle, but managed to escape. After that rude treatment, they flew off never to return, before I got to the pond. My bad luck, since I've only seen them in non-breeding plumage.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks for all the very helpful comments. So am trying a crop below across the reflection, and do think I like it better. Also got rid of some more white blobs, and the dust bunnies, and did a small CW adjustment. I hope it's improved. Boy I love this forum!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I don't mind the cropping of the reflection on the repost, but if you go that route you'd best crop more from top and right to balance the comp as now your subject looks very low in the frame. Here's what my version would be:

[Melissa Groo]

oh yes. You're right, Daniel, there was too much dead space above. Thank you for your expert eye and time.

[dankearl]

Daniels repost is very nice.
Congrats on getting this beautiful bird. i would be happy with any of the photos, it is always a treat to
get an unexpected find like this.
Well done.

[Frank Schauf]

Beautiful and colorful image. Sharp and well composed.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent Melissa, good details HA and nice pose. the whites in the neck area look a bit flat and greyish as if they were overexposed and then recovered in post?

The water ripple is the icing on the cake.

[gail bisson]

The repost is a huge improvement. You have a keeper! Well done on catching this lovely girl and I hope you see her again,
Gail

[Ofer Levy]

Very nice shot! I much prefer the original over the other two versions.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Love this bird and the colors and light are fantastic. A lovely image overall. I like Daniels crop.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Melissa this is so pretty but I am not a fan of the repost crops. If I were to crop the reflection off I would not have left any of the neck reflection. It feels awkward almost like an amputee :( I like the original post alot, great light, colors and a good catch by our girl Marina on the reflection highlite..

[christopher galeski]

nice capture Melissa,love the green water,beautiful bird,seen one once,here in the uk.well done.