Leucistic American Coot portrait

[Dan Brown]

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

[Mike Milicia]

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.

[Dumay de Boulle]

very nice portriat and very good exposure!

[Kiran Poonacha]

beautiful close up this, is this a albino?

[Chris Martinez]

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.

[Chad Caswell]

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

[Dan Brown]

beautiful close up this, is this a albino?

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.

[Humberto Ramos]

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

[Doug Brown]

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

[Nancy Bell]

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 :).

[Chris Kotze]

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

[Sid Garige]

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

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

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.

[denise ippolito]

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.:)

[Hendri Venter]

Excellent portrait. Amazing detail and very well exposed.

[Dan Brown]

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