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Clark's Grebe
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Clark's Grebe

by Mia McPherson

Gallery: AvianPosted October 15, 2009197 views24 comments
Aechmorphus clarkii

Image taken at Bear River MBR, UT a few months ago.

D200, HH with lens resting on my knee, sitting on some really miserble feeling gravel, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, 200-400mm VR w/1.4x TC at 550mm, natural light. 44% of original image.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your comments & critiques, thank you for looking.

Comments

24 comments
Comment posted by Michael Ramos on October 15, 2009 at 9:54 AM
Wow Lia this is an Amazing image,clear crisp sharpness and excellent details on the whites.
Perfecto! :toast: :toast: :jump:
Registered on December 24, 2008, 43 Posts, 281 Comments
Comment posted by Glenn Bartley on October 15, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Very nice! I really like the pose you captured.
Registered on June 29, 2004, 448 Posts, 1180 Comments
Comment posted by Avi Hirschfield on October 15, 2009 at 10:26 AM
LIA I Love that eye and a great head turn.Nice detail in the larger version :wink:
Registered on November 1, 2003, 518 Posts, 2114 Comments
Comment posted by Kenneth Arni on October 15, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Beautiful shot Lia, Detail and color of the bird is great, and i really like the BG with reflection here. :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 24, 2008, 112 Posts, 629 Comments
Comment posted by Carrie O'Brien-Sib on October 15, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Lia, Another great post! I especially like the reflection, and the detail and color you captured of the eye.
Good job!
COS

:toast:
Registered on August 4, 2009, 149 Posts, 889 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on October 15, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Very nice Lia. I love these western species of grebes. I wish we had such cool grebes over here. Oh well, I guess I will just have to enjoy looking at your images instead. I like the head turn with the great look at the eye. Great reflection too. Well done.
Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on October 15, 2009 at 1:16 PM
No problems here, even in the large version, even with the crop. Very peaceful.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Luke Ormand on October 15, 2009 at 2:02 PM
I've never been able to photograph a grebe (let a lone see one) then again, I've only been trying for the last year or so. A great job on this one with some really nice crisp lighting. The headturn is particularly great
Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments
Comment posted by David Sparks on October 15, 2009 at 3:09 PM
Lia:
Interesting lines in this image: vertical lines in the reflection of trees on the shore, the horizontal line of the bow and stern waves, vertical lines of the neck and reflection and horizontal lines of the head and beak and reflections. Excellent sharpness despite large crop .... and that dramatic red eye! :toast:
Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments
Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on October 15, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Well done Lia, I like the head turn and the excellent detail of the subject. The off center crop with the bird looking into the frame keeps me involved.

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments
Comment posted by Charles Opper on October 15, 2009 at 4:07 PM
This is wonderful in every way! What time of day was this taken? There is good detail and texture in the Grebe's feathers.

I like the expression. Almost makes me want to wade through the water after it... :biggrin:

Registered on December 5, 2008, 10 Posts, 52 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on October 15, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Nice head turn and a great job on the exposure of the whites on the neck, Lia. :toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Mason on October 15, 2009 at 6:11 PM
I just love this one! Composition couldn't be better and the bird's pose is perfect. Excellent DOF too. The eye is amazing.
Registered on December 14, 2005, 399 Posts, 2305 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Leggett on October 15, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Great light and colors, and nice timing for the head turn, Lia, and generally well framed for the crop you chose, except that I'd consider a bit more free space below the grebe's reflection as an option if you have it.

Considering your shooting technique on unfavorable ground, I guess that I would need not only a butt pad, but a knee pad to soften the load of my big glass on my scawny knee :biggrin:
Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on October 15, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Bill,

I do have a bit more room below the bird in the original frame and considered leaving more there too.

Good thing I had not started to drink my PolyPort yet or I may have choked on my beer laughing when I read about the butt & knee pads!

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Drummond on October 15, 2009 at 7:02 PM
Head turn is perfect Lia - the neck, head and eyes really pop out

cheers
Rob
Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments
Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on October 15, 2009 at 11:19 PM
Great pose and eye contact. Great work on the whites
Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments
Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 16, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Beautiful lighting and a great head turn and pose... I agree with Bill .... on the room at the bottom... not the other stuff :biggrin: :toast:
Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments
Comment posted by Craig Strand on October 16, 2009 at 2:14 AM
Wonderful image Lia, we see lots of Pied-billed but I love the coloration, plumage and deatail on the Clark's. Love the exposure and those great eyes... well done!
Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments
Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on October 16, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Very nicely done Lia. I do agree with Bill. IMO, I might add a tiny bit more space (sounds like youu have it) below, but I might also crop a the same amount above, so you don't change the size of the bird in the crop, because that is perfect. As always, wonderful job!
Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments
Comment posted by May Haga on October 16, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Outstanding. Like the backward look, the detail, the perspective. Overall excellent presentation.
May
Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments
Comment posted by Steve Balke on October 17, 2009 at 8:02 AM
The contrasting colors, especially the red eye, provide great impact in this image, Lia. It's true that as my eye follows the reflection downwards I do feel that I'm just about bumping the edge of the frame. Allowing more space there does look like a good idea. However, you have a nice vertical asymmetry now that you don't want to spoil either. :toast:
Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments
Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on October 17, 2009 at 9:20 PM
hard to imagine a more perfect pose or light for this shot. beautiful and perfectly exposed. I do agree that a bit more room would be good to give the reflection some space.
Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments
Comment posted by Whum on October 18, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Nice shot Lia.
Registered on June 6, 2007, 131 Posts, 696 Comments