American Coot

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Lake Mirror in Lakeland, Florida this morning. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 900 AWB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC 2017
Cropped for composition and presentation

[William Dickson]

Lovely looking pose Joe, and I like the detail you got on both blacks and whites. I think I would be tempted to add more contrast to the blacks especially around the lower half. Love the HA.

Will

[stuart wanuck]

love the blacks and whites nice

[Isaac Grant]

Hazy days are great for these guys as getting them in full sun and not blowing out the beak takes a small miracle. Details look very nice but I agree with William that the blacks are a bit off. Looks like you lifted them a little too much which introduced some noise on the face. Maybe dark those just a bit and you have a real winner on your hands here. And it was really nice to meet you. :cheers:

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hazy days are great for these guys as getting them in full sun and not blowing out the beak takes a small miracle. Details look very nice but I agree with William that the blacks are a bit off. Looks like you lifted them a little too much which introduced some noise on the face. Maybe dark those just a bit and you have a real winner on your hands here. And it was really nice to meet you. :cheers:

Isaac, thank you for viewing and commenting. Yes it was great spending a morning at Gatorland together. Sorry about the Florida weather...

[Lorant Voros]

I love it! The beak is so beautiful with all the creamy colors. You managed to show the beauty of a simple common bird. Very well done!