Slav Grebe +REPOST

As most people who have photographed this little stunner have probably got full frame head shots, I thought I would post something a bit different.
After watching it for approx 2 days, I worked out that it was eating around 30-40 perch a day (lower estimate) and therefore has eaten around 400+ fish during its stay!! Where it puts them, I do not know but it sure can eat!!

More images on my diary pages.
Comments and crits welcome.

Canon 40D
Canon 500mm F4 with 1.4x TC
ISO 100
1/1000sec @ f/5.6

Nice comp-whats the red in the water as thats very distracting and spoils imo an otherwise very nice image

Dave

Thats interesting you say that Dave as it was a red life jacket on the oppposite shore and placed the grebe there as I though it added to the image. I've got plenty without the red so no biggy!! It will be interesting to see what others think. Thanks for being honest!

I'm not sure about the red. I tried to imagine it was sunlight but that does not work.
After looking a few minutes to this pictures I think I have to agree with Dave. It looks like an underwater eruption from some vulcano. The longer I look the more I agree with Dave.
Sorry Ian.

Hi Ian, for me I like this picture as is.

I side with Dave and Tom on the red patch - find it an unnatural distraction I'm afraid. The grebe also looks a bit soft on my monitor but it has been one of those trying days ..............

Hi Ian,

I am afraid that I echo Cliffs comments, except for the trying day part

Full marks for trying something different within your trademark style. Perhaps if the bird had been sharper and slightly larger?

Hi Ian, yep red is a real distracter..

Sorry Ian the red patch doesn't work for me either and the bird does look soft.

Ian, red reflection is distracting and would like grebe a wee bit sharper.

Phil

'Nits' cover Ian, but it looks soft too, no real detail to me? Sorry

Hope you get better luck next time.

Hi Ian,

I'm not a big fan of the reflected life ring either, but everything else I love! Great bird and great light with nice comp! I can't imagine a soft image would even reach your computer, so I suspect its just down to the image size with the bird being small in the frame. Just give it a little more usm for web display. Also, maybe a very small ccw rotation if I was ultra picky!

Cheers,

Lewis.

I would agree with the 'red' comments about but the grebe is a lovely specimen and I like the idea of the composition.

Thanks all for your comments. Very much appreciated. Bit of a marmite shot then! Interesting that it does look soft as it is saved at 100% with the save to web so must be due to compression. As Lewis says, soft shots will always find there way to the bin straight away. I've posted another shot from the session without the red in the picture!

Much much better. I have always found that the eye in these grebes never really sharpens up well.

Thanks Tom. I agree, not sure what the eye does but Tufted Ducks are the same aswell. Glad this ones better. Comparing the two aswell the blacks seem a lot darker in the first one aswell. Must have had a processing brain wave or something! Cheers.

The second one is a beauty

prefer the second one nice image I loved seeing and photographng them hope to see them in their summer plumage in Scotland

Really like the second image Ian. Very nice indeed.

Ian
Shot of bird I aint seen ,but I am affraid its a bit soft for me.
Only being honest which doesn't always go down well.
Cheers
JohnR

I like both shots but think they would each benefit from having the bottom half of the image cropped off

The second one is a cracker, composition and the background range of tones work for me, but the bird (at this size) needs a bit of careful selective sharpening!

Hi Ian.I think I prefer the first one but maybe with the bird actually in the middle of the red reflection.So that the red is no longer a distraction but draws you straight into the bird.
There's always got to be one awkward so and so!

Phil.

Much prefer the second shot as the red colour in the first just distracts. I also can't help feeling that the image is too tall - I'd like to see you lose just a little from the top and bottom to make the dimensions more comfortable.