Cape wagtail taking a bath

Sometimes we take a photo more for fun than believing it would stand out amongst the others and then it surprizes you at PP time. This is one of those - on the way to our local botanical garden's exit I saw this spot in the middle of a natural stream which appeared to be popular bird bathing area. Probably because of its width (clear view of possible danger) and its shallow depth. I decided to hang around for a few minutes and was rewarded with a few birds taking a bath about 15 metres from me.

Common sharpening & dimming highlights (bright morning sun) in LR. Brights reigned in even more using LM's in PS. Cropped to about 20% of original.

All C & C's welcome

Nikon D600
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED + TC14E II
F/7.1 | 1/800s | 1250 ISO | monopod

Tobie:

Nice pose with splayed tail, good head angle.

Specular highlights off water can be a real challenge, and it is often hard to reduce their luminosity without them starting to look a bit unnatural. I am afraid of few of those are showing up in the image.

If I have some that I just can't tone down enough, and keep them looking natural, I will clone them out.

There are different feelings about the cloning bit, but something to consider.

Cheers

Randy

Magnificent image in nice environment. Very nice pose, HA and light. Great composition too.

Regards,
Satish.

Pretty neat scene. I really like the tail feathers splayed on the surface of the water. Good pose overall and I like where you have placed the subject within the frame. I agree with Randy about the specular highlights and I would remove at least the one near the head and the ones near the top. Perhaps tone down the white patch on the bird too. Pretty nice overall.

Hi Tobie, lovely lookback pose from the little guy, and good to see his plumage drenched in water. I like the colours of the rocks beneath the water, and agree on removing some of the specular highlights. Im sure you came away with plenty keepers here. :w3

Thanks for looking & the comments everyone! Extreme highlights removed where it matters most:

Tobie really like the running water and I do think the repost without the highlights improves the image,looks really natural ,like it a lot.

Cheers Keith.

I like the setting, fanned tail, colours and composition. Repost looks better. Well done Tobie.

Nice spot, I really like the water and the stones. Nice pose and nice composition, Tobie. The repost looks better.