Black-necked Grebe

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

20190329-092905DSC_6166-bewerkt
20190329-092905DSC_6166-bewerkt1200×800 322 KB
Arguably the most beautiful Grebe we have around here. No mystery where it derives its name from :wink: … Thanks for viewing ! For more, please check https://www.hansoverduin.nl/nigrocollis/

What technical feedback would you like if any?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Thanks for viewing and have a nice weekend,

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Nikon D500 with 500mm f4 | 1/1000s | f5 | ISO560 | overexposed 2/3EV | camera on beanbag on the bank

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You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
2

Really beautiful shot Hans. Dreamy water and background. Very nice details on the bird and I love that eye - very striking. Very well done!

3

Wonderful as always, Hans. The background (and reflected background) really complement this bird’s colors well.

Max

4

Beautiful, Hans. I’ve seen other European Grebes posted, but I don’t recall seeing this species before. I love your usual low angle for this image and the water was perfect for it.

5

Killer image. I might want a sliver more room above but heck, this is beautiful. That background just sings with the grebe.

6

Beautiful bird, Hans. This is an interesting species, seems stubby compared to other Grebes. The light and details are great. I’m having trouble understanding the foreground. Looks like you added canvas in such a way that it stretched the neck out - I am puzzled.

7

Hi Hans,

Excellent photo and if you have some extra room up at the top, then that would strengthen the comp. Well done…Jim

8

Hello Bill, Thanks for your comment. The FG is as it was. Shallow DOF and extreme low Pov make for this effect, nothing has been added, blurred or otherwise manipukated (aside from some shifting with sliders for contrast and exposure). Hope this helps solving your puzzle :slight_smile: !

9

Stunning image, love it !

10

Not the tiniest nit from me - perfect!
Sandy

11

Absolutely gorgeous photo Hans.

12

Hans, congrats on another exceptional EP!
sandy

13

Thanks all for the comments and the EP :slight_smile: !

I received a question on how I got this result, so here’s my answer (I suspect a little disappointing to some :wink: :slight_smile:

Hello, thanks for your enthousiast reaction. I do not have any tutorials or Skype things…
But I can tell you what happened: nothing. That is to say, in this case:

  1. Lens very close to the water level (I was laying on a small bank with hardly any difference in height between the bank and the water
  2. Water was very calm (early morning)
  3. Very low aperture number as to create a minimal DOF

That’s it basically. In postprocessing I levelled the image, worked a bit on the exposure, contrast and saturation.
Note that in 90% of the images I work with a combination of low angle and wide open aperture. That’s the way I like it…
No artificial blurring done.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Hans

1 Like
14

Congrats on the image Hans, beautiful low angle and colors.