This was taken on the day Dennis Plank and I went down to that wildlife refuge in the Southwest Washington region. I like the water. This is actually good weather for photographing Coots since their plumage is so reflective and shows off too many highlights in the bright sun.
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The little coot is steaming off somewhere. I like the nice reflection and especially the neck. It is so continuous on that soft curve. Well exposed. I might look at just a bit of lightening in and around the eye area. It is a very typical environment for them.
Excellent detail and you got some nice clear water for this shot, David. I do like the appearance of the water as you mentioned. To my eye, the image didn’t look quite level. I downloaded it and put it into PS, then used the leveling tool in the crop menu and drew a line connecting the tip of the beak with the same point in it’s reflection (they should form a vertical line if it’s straight). It tuned out to be off a bit and I’ve attached the straightened version that PS gave me. I didn’t put back any canvas, so it’s a tighter crop.
The grasses in the BG were my reference point. The coot was swimming at an angle. I guess I don’t have a problem with that but I am aware some people do. To me, even though the water seems flat, one still needs to account for the angle of travel. I also have the advantage of having the whole frame as a reference.
I like the water as well. Nice reflection and good detail in the Coot.
