The Grebes are defending their territories at the moment, so this intruder had to run for his life 
… Any comments welcome ! Cheers, Hans
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D500 with 500mm | 1/2000s | f5 | ISO560 | overexposed 1/3 EV | camera on camerabag on the ground. In postprocessing I added a sliver on the RHS of the frame to create just a bit more space for the Grebe to run into…
Hi Hans
This is a Grebe gets out of Dodge. The kick, wings, lean and spray are marvelous.
Peter
Superb action, Hans. Looks like you could have gone up a notch or two on shutter speed, but who would have expected this much action? The tiny bit of motion blur actually adds to the feel of speed. My only nit is that some of the splashes look just a bit hot-I don’t know if you can tone them down a touch? One trick I’ve used with sunrises is to select the blown area and brush over it very lightly (start at maybe 5% opacity?) with a color from an area that’s right next to it but not quite blown.
Lovely action shot Hans. The surface of the water is just like glass and the grebe is shattering it. Sparkling. Great color. Good that you got so low.
Very cool image. The action is spectacular and the shooting settings really work well to capture the motion. I don’t see anything that I would like to change. Nicely done!
Superb shot, Hans with stunning three-toned horizontals. When a bird is taking off it’s tricky to know how much to leave behind it (and in front), but I’ve now learned from this photo the optimal amount!
Absolutely perfect!! Wonderful capture of a decisive (and humorous) moment. Wonderful setting!!
Thank you @peter , @David_Leroy , @Keith_Bauer , @Mike_Friel and @Diane_Miller .
@Dennis_Plank thanks al lot for your input. Yes, the highlights in some of the droplets are blown, and most likely could be toned down, however in cases like this it doesn’t really bother me and I consider it a purely ‘technical’ thing that doesn’t influence my feel about the image. But, as said, you are right and impressed that you noticed 
! And, thanks for your suggestion about how to fix it, very informative - I will for sure try this in the future !
Hi Hans, well done capture that conveys a lot of action. Sharp where it needs to be. No nits from me.
I love the action and overall look of this image, Hans. The soft, warm lighting is beautiful.
Hans,
Another gem and definite eye candy. Grebes work hard to get off the water and you nailed the action… Awesome photo…Jim
