Coot running on ice

[Ivan Sjogren]

Hello everyone and sorry for my lacking activity lately. I have been buried with work and exams at university.

I have seen a lot of stunning photos of ducks here lately and read many interesting discussions. I got very envious, so I set out to photograph some waterfowl myself today. Most lakes in central and northern Sweden are still covered with ice but the temperatures kicked up to 10C this week, so it won't last long. Spring birds are arriving, and the wintering birds are starting to make territories. I found a small gathering of Eurasian Coots that started building nests by the reeds with small patches of open water in front. All the pairs fought of their neighbors by running on the ice and attacking any passerby. I was happy to get this frame in the last light of the day. I read much of Isaacs comments about the importance of light and how it is such a deal breaker, I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I know that it is not 100% in this frame (refering mainly to the shadow on the neck and that the sun is not perfectly in the back of the camera), but it is nearly there so I decided to post it anyways just to see what you all think. My dream image would be to get a fight on the ice with those big feet in the air so I might head back tomorrow!

Canon 5D Mark IV | 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM II | ISO 800 | 1/3200s | f/5.0

[William Dickson]

Really nice .........Great control of the blacks/whites, which is usually quite difficult on these birds. Lovely POV and that raised leg sure adds so much interest. Very well done Ivan, I like this. Good work and hope you get the fight tomorrow.

Will

[annmpacheco]

Woohoo Ivan, this is done beautifully. Love the waking frozen big coot foot on top of the steely ice/BG. The drops of water and the HA are also a plus. I appreciate your effort to get out there and chase the light and i do hope you catch that feet flying coot tomorrow! Beautiful image

[Dorian Anderson]

This is a really cool and unique frame, Ivan. All the gray tones are great and the perfectly clean frame is money. I only wish for the slightest bit sharper focus on the raised foot as that is where my eyes immediately go. Eye contact is fabulous.

[Isaac Grant]

I tried and failed miserably at getting this exact shot this year! Had the coots in very close and on the ice but they stayed bunched together and none ever separated or walked around. I love everything about this except what Dorian mentioned, that rear foot is not sharp. The foot is the star of the show and on a shot like this it is almost impossible to have enough depth of field to get the rear foot in focus. For that reason on these types of shots, I always aim to have the front foot raised as it is almost always sharper than the rear foot.

[Ivan Sjogren]

Thank you all for your inputs!

I agree that the unsharpness on the foot is not ideal. I hadn't gone through all the photos from the afternoon before publishing the post here. I have a series of different poses from this session. This one is so similar so it felt unnecessary to create a entirely new post. The foot is sharper and there is no shadow on the leg. But I like the look of the ice and the hanging of the foot better in the first version.

[John Mack]

Pretty sweet frame of this coot. Like the low angle and the way the ice blends right into the background.

[dankearl]

Repost is about the best Coot photo I have ever seen...

[Isaac Grant]

This is the one! Killer Ivan. As you said, no shadow on the rear leg and that front foot is nice and sharp. Unless you have a ton of depth of field, you always want that front foot in action. This has to rank up there with the all time best coot shots.

[arash_hazeghi]

killer frame Ivan, the soft light, details, BG and ice the big foot all do it for me. would be happy to have this file under my belt!

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Outstanding images beautifully portrayed, both look superb, on balance I would go for the second.

[Joseph Przybyla]

I can't see how you could improve the image, especially the repost. Your image make me want to work harder. SH, EXP, and detail spot on. Thank you for sharing, Ivan.

[Chris van Rooyen]

Killer frame, excellent exposure control - love the droplets! Low angle is very effective. Pretty much a perfect frame IMO