Slavonian Grebe

I have just got back from a long trip to Norway and Sweden, when I first arrived in early April the lakes were still frozen which was a concern because I wanted to use a floating hide to get closer to the birds, by the end of April the ice was free and birds were arriving in good numbers, I managed to get pictures of the four species I wanted to cover which was Goldeneye, Red Throated Diver, Black Throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe. I will post an image of each species over the next few days, so here is the first one.

Canon 1D MkII, 500mm Lens, F6.5, 1/500, ISO Rating 200

Thanks for looking

Danny

Danny, i think its a very nice image. I only wished it was just a tad bigger in the frame.
Rene de Heer

Hi Danny
Welcome back,sounds like a great trip,Get my chest waders at the end of this month so will be able to get a similar angle to my images Great looking bird and lovely soft light,Look forward to seeing the rest

Stunning bird - the OOF elements give it a dreamy timeless atmosphere

Only seen these in their boring monotone winter plumage, I have them on my long list of things to do before I get too old and crankie!

Mike

I like this a lot Danny, super looking bird, congratulations on your "Wild Thing" article in Amateur Photographer

Regards

Barrie

Hi Danny

Super shot in great light - love the low angle and what it has done for the water!

David

Hi I have looked at it the few times I think for me it needs to be slightly bigger in the frame, also the yellow bit of the background needs cloning out as it draws your attention away from the subject, other than that it's a nice image.

Phillip.

Very nice indeed. The colours, lighting and out of focus areas give it a great feel.
I like the yellow area in the background..... it compliments the birds 'horns'
I even like the space it has in the frame.

The work on your web site makes me question my own abilities too !
Great stuff !

Faultless! Would also look superb if you cropped it to a vertical, with the yellow band acting as a great border (and space for text) at the top.

Dave
Forest of Dean, UK

Very nice, like the low angle and colour scheme.



Tim

Absolutely lovely & beautifully lit. Well done.

Malcolm

Hi Danny

Great light and colours. I don't mind the size of the bird in this shot, although I can see it would also work well with the bird a bit bigger. I can't really find any fault with it, my only suggestion would be to crop a small amount of the blue water from the foreground in the bottom of the frame. That's my personal taste though, an excellent image which obviously took some skill and dedication to achieve. Well done.



cheers

Sean

An excellent image, certainly worth the efforts undertaken to achieve it, the size in the frame works well for me although I can understand the other side of the argument.

All been said already. Great light on the plumage, composition, love the low angle and ethereal back/foreground. Maybe a slight crop to get it bigger in the frame but in no way essential.

Lovely shot Danny.
Were you on an organised photo trip Danny, or are the locations places you have been to before ?

John

Hello John

The second week of my trip I was stopping with a Guide called Ole Martin Dahl in Norway who was helping me photograph Capercaillie at the lekking sites but the rest of the time was off my own back working areas that I have known from preveious trips to Norway and Sweden, it was a long time to be away from the family and my work commitments but it was something I have always wanted to do. It was hard camping and roughing it for that length of time which I had to do as money is tight in fact I am skint now but now I am back it is all forgotten.

Cheers

Dan

Thanks Danny,
I've had numerous offers from friends in Norway to come over and stay for a while, they're not photographers but they do have very keen interests in nature. Might be something to do next spring.

Cheers,
John

WOW what more can one say!!!

Nice one Danny