Swan Lake Audition

[Dennis_Plank]

At least this Pied-billed Grebe seemed to be auditioning for a role as a swan. It gave me some incredible poses when I took a spur of the moment trip to Ridgefield NWR when we had a break in the weather Wednesday. I must have spent 20 minutes with this bird as it went through it’s morning grooming session.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything you notice. I know the bill as a bit soft, though I can’t figure out why unless it was moving it at the time. Is that a killer?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

How does this crop work? With this crazy pose, I wasn’t sure exactly where to go with it.

Any pertinent technical details:

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 403 mm, beanbag on car window, f/8, 1/800, iso 2000, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to an arbitrary aspect ratio. 4459 by 2469 pixels final size.

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

[Greg_Giesing]

Good morning Dennis, Not sure I would have done anything different. I agree with the motion from the bill. Everything else looks sharp. The crop is good and I like the full rings from the waves in the water.

[Dan_Kearl]

Nice pose Dennis, I like it.

[Shirley_Freeman]

Very nice, Dennis. Anytime we can capture that moment of unusual behavior in wildlife, I think we can deal with some technical issues, but hopefully, with the suggestions given, you can even fix that. Still, a great image.