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Coot on Ice
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Coot on Ice

by Dennis Plank

Gallery: AvianPosted January 8, 2017183 views6 comments
A few years ago at Ridgefield, I got a picture of a coot on ice, showing it's enormous feet.  Unfortunately, I didn't have as much dof as I would have liked and the face was a trifle soft in that image.  I went down two days ago after a week of freezing weather in hopes of getting another chance.  There was an opening in the ice quite near the road (though, unfortunately, several feet below road level and you're not allowed out of cars there) with a raft of coots and a few other ducks using it.  I ended up getting quite a few images that I liked. 

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 421 mm, beanbag on car window, f/11, 1/1250, iso 1250, aperture priority, pattern metering, -1/3 EV.  Processed in LR5 & CS6.  Cropped to 14.2 MP before resizing.  Taken at 10:23 AM on January 6th.

Comments and criticisms are most appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

6 comments
Comment posted by Sharron Sims on January 8, 2017 at 4:34 PM
Wow, I've never seen a coot out of the water and had no idea their foot were so big. Nice shot.
Registered on April 28, 2014, 54 Posts, 166 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on January 8, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Love those feet!
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 8, 2017 at 7:46 PM
I'm so used to seeing them in Florida that I feel like his feet on ice must be freezing!  Really nice sharpness in this one, and great exposure.
Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 8, 2017 at 8:46 PM
I wonder if it could skate backwards...this made my day! Wonderful picture, even though it forced me to anthropomorphize.laugh
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Ditch on January 8, 2017 at 10:04 PM
Excellent. Detail and exposure dead on.

I've seen this on occasion (but not in AZ of course).
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments
Comment posted by Steve Thompson on January 9, 2017 at 12:25 PM
Really nice detail in this hard to expose bird Dennis. The white bill looks great and the blacks are holding detail too. And then there are those feet..amazing. I love watching them run across the top of water.
Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments