American Coot

We have a lot of the American Coots at our neighborhood lake and I've been trying to get a nice image for some time. The is more than nice. The detail on the feathers and and back leg as it lifts from the water is wonderful. How nice it would have been to have the neck and head illuminated as well as the body of the coot. Well don Richard!

Love the light and detail Rich. Nice bird position too. Overall comp and exposure are great. Well done.

Really well done, Richard. The D70 is a prime example of the fallacy of "more megapixels is better". I had two at one time; I wish I had kept one!

One of the hardest birds to expose properly but you nailed it here. Coots are underappreciated and interesting birds.

Good pose, Richard. I like the intense look and he raised foot in this image. However, I find the shift from light to shadow a little disconcerting, particularly since the head is in the shadow. Exposure techs on both the beak and body are perfect. Perhaps a little more room in the front if you can add some canvas would balance this better.

Richard,
Exceptional detail in the feathers and the feet but it's the light that steels the show here. Reflection isn't bad either. Only wish that the eye had some light on it. Nice coot shot Richard.

Hi Richard... really nice detail and pose. Especially nice for on 1/50 shutter speed. I think more room to the left in front of the coot would be nice.

Especially nice for on 1/50 shutter speed.

Sorry - should have been 1/500th second. I have corrected it at the top.

love the details, pose, and exposure here, Rich, and it's great to see a bit of that big foot. definitely rather tight in front of the bird for me.

Super detail and sharpness end to end Rich but I especially enjoy the detail on the raised foot and leg. I think your exposure is great - nice to see that creamy bill as it shoud be. I do agree with those wanting a bit more room on the right.

Excellent photo. Nice detail, great pose and the bill is exposed well. The crop is a little tight for my taste, but great pic overall. Well done.

Rich,

I am one who believes coots are given far less attention than they should be, they are a real challenge to expose properly to show the details in the dark feathers without blowing out the creamy bill. You have done an excellent job of exposing this coot as there are lovely details in the dark feathers and the creamy bill looks great in this beautiful light.

I just looked through some of my coot images and in mine the neck and head seem to always look darker in color than the body so this looks perfectly natural to me whether there was an actual shadow there or not. I like the raised foot, your angle, the reflection, sharpness and great eye contact. I do wish for a bit more room on the right side of the frame, it feels a touch tight there but that is only my personal taste.

I'm glad to see you are having fun with the 70-300mm VR and how this shows that you can get fine images of birds using shorter focal lengths combined with the skills needed to "stalk" the bird or sit still long enough for it to come closer to you.

Love the pose and reflection. The lifted foot is also really great. I like your choice of crop yet find myself wanting some more room on the right side.I would also be tempted to brighten up that awesome red eye.

The light and detail on the back of this bird and the leg partly out of the water is amazing and beautiful.

I think that the detail in the leg and illuminated body along with the perfect exposure of the bill are the characteristics of this shot that I find most outstanding, Richard. Although the shadow does conceal some detail here, I'm o.k. with it. In fact, I think the shadow actually adds more depth to the image.

Nice image as posted, looks like it was very close Richard..
Nits noted, it's a great "whatever" shot BTW