Pied-billed Grebe

Nice upclose photo of this Pied-Billed. The look it's giving is amusing and the fact that you can see where the leg hooks up with the body is quite interesting.

It does look like it could use a tiny CCW rotation though

- Luke

I like the comical look here. A little more DOF would have been ideal as the chest doesn't appear as sharp to me as the rear of the bird, or maybe it's where the camera focused. not bad though.
I like the water droplet falling from it's bill and the sharp detail in the feathers in the middle and rear of the bird. Nice shot!

I like the pose you caught here Rich. All the water on the bird adds a great deal to this shot IMO. Everything on the bird looks tack except the neck, maybe just a bit more DOF given the 600mm focal length. Overall, very nice.

Richard,
I like the facial expression of this Grebe, his pose and the droplets too.

Uh-oh, he's got some kind of problem with you! Very neat pose. The head-on look isn't my favorite, but for some reason it works for me in this shot, with the kinked neck.

Great Pose on this guy!!!

Ken Archer

Richard,

I like the head on pose, the one water droplet just under the bill, the pastel blues in the water and the reflection. I also appreciate that you have this grebe showing the darkness under the bill which is most evident during breeding season. I find the headon on view of the bill amusing, it looks very different then seeing it in profile. Excellent comp and exposure, I sure know how easy it can be to blow out the lights under the tail.

Excellent capture; the neck twist combined with the head-on look makes an ordinary, drab bird a compelling shot. I like the shallow DOF because it focuses your attention on the head. Perhaps 1 degree of CCW rotation?

Made me smile Rich. I think these are an under-appreciated species by many photographers - they just have so much personality and they're so mercurial, going from lazy couch potatoes to feisty little speed demons in a nanosecond. You've captured that personality here.

Richard:
I think the sweeping arches of the eye ring, the perfect symmetry of the dark rings on the beak and the neck/head tilt are what makes the head-on shot work so well. The water color is nice too.

Nice timing to catch the glance here Richard. I like how the angled position of its neck is reflected vertically.

Neat pose you captured here Richard

Richard, I normally am not a huge fan of head-on shots, but this one takes the cake. It really makes this Grebe out to be some kind of character and is a bit humerous. Terrific work!

Great over-the-shoulder Richard

cheers
Rob

I agree with Ron D's comment about PBGRs being underrated. I love the symmetry here--you got the perfect straight-on angle and a very interesting look (and pose with the neck pulled back).