What's this? -- American Coot

[wendell westfall]

• NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D90
• 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8
• ƒ/7.1
• 400mm
• 1/3200s
• ISO 800
• Wed, 17 November 2010 10:07 AM
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

D90 70-200VR+2X@400 1/3200 f7.1 ISO800 -1/3EV handheld

It is raining today and has been foggy for a few days, but earlier this week I found this coot and a couple buddies swimming around in bright green pond scum. Fortunately, none of it sticks permanently when they get out of it, but it does look pretty colorful on a black coot in the meantime. Some adjustments made in Lightroom3. Is the crop about right?

Wendell

 

[Indranil Sircar]

Nice composition, Wendell. I like the look-down pose. I would have preferred more space on the right. On my monitor, I see a blue cast. Let's see what others feel. TFS.

 

[Ben_Sadd]

I like the combination of the bright green and the red eye.

Like Indranil,I would have happily swapped the excess canvas on the left for some on the right.

I do not get the impression of a blue cast here (using the white beak as a guide), but it would be good to know what others see.

 

[Danny J Brown]

Hi Wendell -

That is some nasty looking pond scum on the coot's breast! Although most waterfowl hunters joke about coots, I think they are beautiful to photograph. Composition-wise you might consider cropping it a bit more and my preference would be to have more room on the right than the left because the coot is looking down and to the right (its left, that is). Regarding exposure, the face on this coot is a little shadowy but you are already on the edge with the ivory bill exposure so I think you've done the best you can without doing some localized adjustments. I agree with the moderator that there appears to be a bit of a blue cast....the water is really blue, even with the algae. Maybe you could warm it up a bit with a white balance adjustment. Thanks for sharing one of my favorite birdies....love that red eye!

DB