The Raccoon Stole My Snorkeling Booty!

[Arthur Morris]

I went down to the lake by my house to photograph water lillies. And did. When I came back, I rinsed off my dive boots--they are great when walking in the water--and put them out on the driveway to dry in the sun. In 30 minutes, I noticed that one was missing.... The raccoons struck again. (They had previously gotten away with a pair of $125 sneakers of mine so I guess that I got off cheap this time.)

This image was created with the Canon 180mm macro lens and the EOS-1D MIII on the old giant Arca-Swiss ball head atop a 3530LS tripod. ISO 320. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/320 sec. at f/10. I removed a few tiny flies and darkened the water to black by moving the Shadow slider way to the right.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Hi Artie, this is very pretty and the whites are very clean and bright. The yellows look perfect and not oversaturated. I love the reflection in the water too. A very beautiful image.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Artie, I thought the image lacked detail so I put it in S/H and brought them out. Went into Nik Color Efex and added some warmth. Cropped a bit off the top to balance to my taste.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Jackie and Dave. Dave, I think that somewhere between your whites and mine might be best. I did a 15% Linear Burn on the whites but am always worried about making them look grey.... Looks as if 25% or so might have been a better choice.

[Fabs Forns]

Without reading the whole explanation, I was wondering how you got the black BG with 1/3+.
I like Dave's colors but prefer your taller crop. Especially, the stronger reflection adds more to the image IMO.

I though you had made peace with the Raccoons? :)

[Alfred Forns]

Agree on the taller crop and would like more reflection or no reflection (rather more) It is a lovely image

.... raccoon wise I think they are just hungry and mistook the items for something fishy :) Would make peace with them ... I know they like hotdogs !!!!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks guys. My solution to the raccoon problem will be to not put mmy valuable footwer in the driveway. It can dry in the garage <smile>

[Harold Davis]

you really should try to befriend the racoons!!:)

love the lily and the black bg is nice and clean. i like that the repost brought out the details in the water, but not the purple lightening it did top.