Coot portrait

[Kerry Perkins]

No, not mine, the bird's! :)

Captured in late afternoon at a local park. Converted in LR2 -> CS4 for levels, curves, sharpening, etc. Selective sharpening on coot (USM) and noise reduction (Noise Ninja) on the background.

50D, EF400mm f/5.6L
Manual mode, f/5.6@1/2500 ISO 400 WB 5100K
AI Servo autofocus, hand-held no flash

[Julie Brown]

Kerry, it looks like you have done a good job getting the detail in the blacks. I like the BG and eye detail as well.

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Great BG and HA. Lots of details not just on the blacks but also the whites look good on my monitor.

[John Hawkins]

I agree with above comments.Nice BG,good and sharp. I like portrait shots of birds. John

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Great exposure and BG. The whites look terrific.

[wendell westfall]

Everything looks real good to me . . .

[Alfred Forns]

Looks great Kerry !!! Excellent comments and fully agree !!!

Would try something for curiosity to see what you get if anything .... convert one from raw just a little over (slight) in the conventional way then another using linear conversion. Place one then the other in a layer to combine, might get some texture in the white. Since you have no blown pixels there should be some detail !!! Excellent !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Kerry - sharp as a tack - love the fine feather detail - good HA and eye contact, BG compliments the bird well.
Exposure looks spot on.
TFS

[denise ippolito]

Kerry, Fantastic sharpness and exposure, Beautiful eye and BG.:)

[Harold Davis]

bazinga!!!! you nailed the heck out of this one, kerry!! love the detail in the blacks. would be interested in seeing the results of al's suggestion. i gotta try that trick myself!

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Excellent job Kerry! Great details in the blacks, perfect eye, and HA. As one of those that does find coots fascinating, especially the feet, I have taken many images, and struggled with the ivory colored bill, and have come to the conclusion that there simply isn't much detail to be gleaned from it, regardless of the exposure. It is basically smooth. The best technique for me is to select the bill, applied Topaz Detail to it(or Topaz Adjust, small detail preset). Anyway, very well done. regards~Bill

[Myer Bornstein]

I agree nice portrait of an unassuming Bird

[Jeff Cashdollar]

I am not going to read the EXIF info - when it comes to exposing dark birds " you da man"!!!!!

[arash_hazeghi]

very good exposure and details Kerry, congrats

[Kristin Brown]

Kerry,
Nice job getting both blacks and whites exposed properly! I love coots and this is one fine image of one!

[Bob Miller]

HI kerry...Terrific exposure! Congrats!

[Mark Young]

Really nice exposure in the black and whites. And the shapes and colour in the bg look really good as well.