Polly Krauter
January 2025 - Pied-bill Grebe Successful Dive
Original
About the Image(s)
Handheld canon R5, 100-500 zoom
f/8.0
1/4000 sec
ISO 2500
This aquatic diving bird collects most of its food underwater during foraging dives. We were lucky to see him fairly close by in a marshy pond with the sun low on the horizon. Also, it was lucky to capture him with a fish in his mouth. During the winter, Pied-bill Grebes lose the bill ring. I cropped and removed a bright reed on the right side of the image, increased the mid-tone luminance and darkened the water. I also increased the contrast on the grebe a little bit. Topaz denoise was used.
8 comments posted
To me this is a nice sharp capture of the grebe and his catch. The light from the right allowed you to get the catch light in its eye which makes it look very life-like. I think your decision to remove the bright reed was correct, but I would also consider rmoving the three reeds in the background. I fing that the complementary colors are very pretty. My only other suggestion would be to do some subtle dodging on the darkest areas of the bird to try to bring out a little more detail. Nice work. Posted: 01/12/2025 15:27:21
Thank you, I will try all of your suggestions. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:21:54
Pied-billed grebes are fun little birds to photograph. The soft low light was very effective in highlighting the grebe's face and neck. I like the reflections in the water and the rings going out from the bird. I agree with Sharon about taking out the other three reeds and the little stick behind the bird. It might be just an allusion but to me the image looks to be leaning to the right. It could be the way the bird is positioned but you might try a slight straightening to see what it looks like. Well done. Posted: 01/12/2025 21:30:18
I am listing to the right! Thank you for the comment. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:20:30
That was a successful dive and you captured it just at the right moment. The grebe has great colour enhanced by the sun being low on the horizon and i like how the water mirrors the colour of the grebe. Nice to show the movement in the water ripples too. As the others have stated i would have cloned out the other reeds. Very nice image. Posted: 01/14/2025 21:55:22
Thank you Ally. It is always a tough call for me to change what is naturally in the environment, but removing the reeds makes the image better. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:29:38
Wonderful shot and I like your interpretation in post. I might look at it as a 5x4 instead of what looks like a 3x2 crop. I think I'd also rotate the "horizon" a very slight bit counter clockwise. I often flip and image horizontally to help me see if it looks level. Sometimes it's more noticeable when flipped. If this were mine, I might look at it leaving in more of the reeds above the bird but agree with removing the ones suggested by the others. Posted: 01/14/2025 23:56:41
Great suggestions, thank you. I seem to be consistently off kilter! A bit more of the environment in the background will give the location more context, thanks for the comment. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:35:02