Hoary-headed Grebe

Gallery: AvianPosted March 20, 2011141 views18 comments

I've been putting some images on redbubble.com to make use of their high quality on-demand print service. I thought this image would make a prospective calender page, perhaps a bit tight, but it might work for impact. The crop ratio suits redbubbles template.

Canon 7D, EF500 f4 + 1.4x, skimmer+mongoose, ISO 400, f/8, 1/1000, vertical crop from horizontal image, cloned out a couple of emergent sticks, added a bit of canvas at bottom.

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 20, 2011 at 3:14 AM

Exceptional !
The pose, detail, reflection, eye, and colours - all perfect!

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on March 20, 2011 at 4:45 AM

Great portrait of this Grebe,your avatar, Simon ! Super low angle composition and great eye contact

I was eagerly waiting for your comment about MY Grebe...
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 20, 2011 at 7:35 AM

Fantastic Simon - the low angle works really well, great detail and a nice head turn.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on March 20, 2011 at 7:44 AM

As good as it gets! Excellent details and head turn. Well done!

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on March 20, 2011 at 8:15 AM

great low angle, nice head turn, and superb detail, Simon. comp works just fine for me.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 20, 2011 at 11:01 AM

This works very well for me!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on March 20, 2011 at 11:17 AM

Love the details in the face. The nice smooth water makes for a nice setting. The low perspective puts it over the top.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on March 20, 2011 at 1:01 PM

What a stunning image! Has it all - sharpness, profile, POV and a great look at the eye. I don't mind the tight comp at all - I too think it makes the image more dramatic. Thanks for sharing

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on March 20, 2011 at 1:03 PM

Very nice Simon. I really like the head turn to see the facial detail better.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 20, 2011 at 1:29 PM

Impressive! I like this very much as posted. The low angle, the muted colors, the sharpness, the head turn come together for a fine image.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on March 20, 2011 at 1:37 PM

Love the pov and the detail in the eye. Will make a fine calendar page.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on March 20, 2011 at 2:29 PM

Wonderful detail in this shot Simon. The tight comp works for me given the trade off for the awesome detail. I believe I can see some repeated patterns in the canvas you added at the bottom, but if you would not have mentioned you added canvas I never would have noticed, so it is all good IMO. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Backlund on March 20, 2011 at 5:29 PM

An incredible photo, I think it will be very successful as a calender page!

Registered on September 29, 2005, 252 Posts, 3380 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on March 20, 2011 at 6:20 PM

Great portrait- Excellent pose, details and awesome BG on this- well done, fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on March 20, 2011 at 6:38 PM

I agree Simon, this image does have impact. I think the tight crop works well here because it really shows the terrific detail in the bird. Nice low perspective and that's what I call a sharp image. Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on March 20, 2011 at 8:13 PM

The vertical crop suits it quite well, helping bring focus to the excellent detail in the head.

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on March 21, 2011 at 12:04 AM

This is great. Simon. I like that although you have good eye contact, the Grebe's attention is just off to the side a bit it seems. Very nice.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 21, 2011 at 4:58 PM

Wow, very impressive, everything comes together on this, low perspective, good detail, head turn, eye contact and background, well done, the larger image looks great.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments