Leucistic American Coot portrait

This capture was made last week in the L.A. area of CA at high noon, hence the harsh light. I thought this guy was some real rare bird from a distance but still a cool critter IMO! PP'ed and cropped vertical with ACR and CS3, cloned a few crumbs off the bird at the dirty water line, selectively sharpened and NR with USM and Noiseware Pro. C&C welcome.

Camera Model: NIKON D300, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec
Aperture: 8
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 400
Lens: VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
Focal length: 400mm
Focal length: 600mm (in 35mm film)
VR Image Stabilization: On
AF mode: AF-C

Very cool! Excellent exposure and detail!
You handled the harsh light very well ... does not look harsh at all to me.
Love the black tips on the feathers.

very nice portriat and very good exposure!

beautiful close up this, is this a albino?

Apart from the harsh light the photo looks great. Nice composition the whites were well taken care of. I wonder if the face could do with a touch more sharpening.

Neat capture Dan, best looking coot I have ever seen :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kiran Poonacha

beautiful close up this, is this a albino?

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Thanks Kiran! This bird is leucistic, which means it lacks pigment in some of it's plumage and skin. To be an albino, it would have to be lack all pigment on plumage and skin and have pink eyes.

Great shot, a wonderful image, I agree with Chris, a round of sharp in the face...

Cool find Dan, and a nice job with the harsh light! I agree with the others about a little more sharpening.

That is one very cool coot! The deep blue bkgd really showcases the white of the bird. And that red eye is great. This is the 1st I have heard of a leucistic coot. A nice change from the basic black :).

Super close up and lovely details. I've never seen a white one.:)

Wow.. Awesome job Dan. Never seen any thing like this before.

Dan, great find and very nice portrait shot. Loved the bill texture....only possible when exposure is so good as it is here. I am finiding the face sharp enough....but would suggest one round on the bill tip...very minor point actually. Thx for sharing...so unusual.

Dan, Thanks for sharing this. I've never seen one. Very cool. I think you handled the lighting very well. The blue BG looks awesome. Nicely done.:)

Excellent portrait. Amazing detail and very well exposed.

Thanks all for the nice critiques! I will try more sharpening on the face.