Great crested grebe

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod mongoose 3.5 head
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/250
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 200
Lens EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x
Focal Length 700.0mm
AF Mode AI Servo AF
AF area select mode Spot AF

This was the prelude to a squabble, all comments welcome.

[Randy Stout]

Jonathan:

I think these guys are great looking birds, wish I had some locally!

Nice action captured, love the flying water, raised pose. There is some motion blur from the low shutter speed. I would def. consider pushing up the ISO to give yourself some more exposure flexibility.

To my eye, the image is too dark as posted, and could be cropped a bit differently.

I have attached a rework: cropped, lightened, very light detail extractor on head.

You can do a better job on the raw.

[Don Lacy]

Love the action the image is slightly blurred but not enough to make it unusable I do love the pose and flying water and Randy's repost fixed the darkness issue

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback and especially to Randy for the rework - much better. I had been shooting at a higher ISO but a turtle appeared directly in front of me and as it was static I dropped the ISO, then of course the action started and I was on the wrong ISO.
I have some more action shots on a higher ISO and also some chicks being fed to follow.
I will be posting the turtle - it looks unusual I have Googled and think it is a SE Asian soft backed turtle.

[dankearl]

I like Randy's rework, but I really like the action, to me the slight blur is a nice effect.
Those birds really are beautiful.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

I like the action but am with Randy on lightening it up. I would love to see a pair of these.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Here is a rework, I have brightened it and also flipped it.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the action but am with Randy on lightening it up. I would love to see a pair of these.

You will... and also a chick!

[Ofer Levy]

Nice dynamic pose. I think the eye doesn't look good though. From my recent experience with these birds I can tell that they don't have the typical black pupil like most birds so making one is not a good idea IMHO. I know Artie srated this trend with the "eye doctor" concept but it really doesn't work in here IMHO.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice dynamic pose. I think the eye doesn't look good though. From my recent experience with these birds I can tell that they don't have the typical black pupil like most birds so making one is not a good idea IMHO. I know Artie srated this trend with the "eye doctor" concept but it really doesn't work in here IMHO.

Ofer you are quite right, the eye never looks so clearly delineated and the pupil and iris never contrast so much, I had been persuaded to doctor it ....but it just doesn't look natural.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I had been shooting at a higher ISO but a turtle appeared directly in front of me and as it was static I dropped the ISO, then of course the action started and I was on the wrong ISO.

Lesson of the day, don't change ISO when you don't need to... I'm not sure what your "high" ISO was, but leaving it at 400 or 800 even for static subjects that appear surprisingly in front of you is your best strategy :-)

I like the action and pose, and Randy's repost has really brought out the light and colours. I agree, very beautiful species you got here...glad you have lots of opportuities with it!