Bringing in some nest material

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi everyone,

This is from 2 years ago. Me and Jasper had an awesome spring taking shots of a pair of very cooperative Great crested Grebes in the Netherlands. We would spend most of the week in the water with these birds. When in the water they would just continue their routine, it was great to experience that! While breeding these birds keep building their nest and from time to time they would bring in nest material.....

C & C welcome,

Canon EOS 350D 1/400 f7.1
ISO 200
Canon 100-400 L IS USM
Focal Length 400mm
RAW

[Gautam Biswas]

well made image. The focus is sharp and the exposure good. Two points for consideration. Cutting of the reflection of the head and the very high saturation of the blue waves around the grebe.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

What a beautiful looking grebe. I have not had the opportunity to see one as yet so I really appreciate this post. Great eye contact and I love the low angle. The waterdroplets are a nice bonus too as well as the nesting material. My only nit is the whites around the face look a lbit hot on my monitor. thanks for sharing .

[Arthur Morris]

Stunningly beautiful. Wish for the total reflection and a slightly better head angle. Exposure perfect in a difficult situation. You guys must have been in heaven. later and love, artie

[Robert Amoruso]

I agree with the other posters observations.

A lovely bird. I am not sure of the tail's length but the back seems a bit tight too me. Is a virtual tail cropped?

[Marko Matesic]

Fantastic capture...colors are great!

[Glenn Bartley]

Just fantastic.....nice crop too.

[Krijn Trimbos]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. To address some of them

1. I wish for the total reflection as well. I cropped off some of the reflecion because there was a big blob of blue there which was very distracting and as it merged with the reflection of the head I couldn't clone it out...

2. The tail of these birds ends where it hits the water in this shot so IMO no room for the virtual tail is needed

3. The headangle comment is noted....

Thanks again

Krijn

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great angle and colors. After reading your reply, I still wish for more room on the right, not much though. You may well be right, but it looks crammed. Too bad about the cut reflection. Great image nonetheless.

[Stephen Stephen]

Krijn I'd be pleased to have created this image despite the nits mentioned. This is a beautiful species.

[John Zeiss]

A very nice image!!
I am sure that I am not the only one interested interested in how "We would spend most of the week in the water with these birds". You have a very low angle on the shot so you are near to the water and fairly close.

John

[Krijn Trimbos]

Hi John,
We used wadersuits to get close to these birds. Waders keep you warm and comfortable even when the water is extremely cold. This way we could spend most of the afternoon or morning with these birds without getting wet/cold. Hope this answers your question.

Cheers