Running Coot

[David Chauvin]

Here’s one from late last Sunday afternoon. I spent an hour or so with a small raft of coots trying to get a “running on water" image. I got quite a few technically acceptable images, but getting one with the feet in a dynamic (top of the water) position and a nice light angle was tricky. I added a little canvas ahead of the coot because I was a little slow on the pan and this frame is the closest to what I was after. ;)

30D, 500f4, 1600 sec, f4.5, iso 400, ~75% of frame

David,
Laplace, LA

[Jeroen Stel]

Great action going on David!
Might consider cloning out the green OOF spots but that's nitpicking this lovely photograph.

Well done!

Greetings,

Jeroen Stel

[Jim Poor]

Really nice with the splashes and the feet visible. I have a thing for coot feet.

[Lori A. Cash]

Nice job capturing the action, David. Love the splashes.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

Agree with Jeroen`s comments!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice capture. I wish you if you would have got a higher shutter speed, then the wings would have come much sharper. Thanks for sharing

[Tim Vidrine]

David, great action shot on this "pouldeau". I noticed you're not using your 5D.

[Steve Maxson]

Great action image. I really like the "walking on water" look with the feet and the splashes. You might consider adding even more canvas on the left. The top of the beak looks hot on my monitor - a common occurrence in coot photos - in my experience. I don't mind the blur in the wing tips - adds to the sense of motion, in my view.

[David Chauvin]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Sabyasachi,,,,,,,iIt's a matter of preference, but I like a bit of blur in some action shots. That and I'd have had to bump the iso higher to get more shutter speed and I preferred the blur over noisey blacks trade off for thes shots.

Tim,,,,IMO, the 5D isn't the tool for this job. The 30D gives me a bit more reach without extenders and a higher frame rate. I love the 5D for it's intended purpose.

Steve,,,,,,,,,coots' bills give me fits on metering. Downsizing killed the subtle detail hiding in the whites of the large file. I should have spent more time tweaking the posted version, but I guess I got lazy. ;-O

Thanks again,,,,,David

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great running pose and details. I might decrease the contrast a bit.