Can anyone tell me how to get a correct exposure on Coots? Seems to me I always blow the whites or lose detail in the shadow or like this where I got both :mad:.

http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/77447f393f590a3d.jpg

All I know is that there are tons of em at Baldwin right now. Pic looks good to me.!!!

Lots of them on Crab too right now too. BTW if I have not told you lately I sure love SILO, this is a wonderful web site. Thanks.

...if they only tasted good...:rolleyes:

...if they only tasted good...:rolleyes:

I hear they do if you like fish :D

The fellas up near our place in WI call them mud hens and eat them just like we would a mallard. They put them in the NESCO and cook em up. I say...No Thankee. They love 'em.

I do hear of a recipe where you place the breast fillets on a wet piece of cedar. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper, bake at 375 for 30 minutes, remove from oven, toss fillet in trash and eat the piece of cedar.

I hear this works for gar and big head carp as well.

Bon Apetite!

:D

Harry here's the best advice I can give you..because it's a bit of struggle for me too...I learned this from a friend who shoots tons of black and white spaniels in the field trials..so she encounters essentially the same problem..
Shoot in RAW as it gives you a bit more leeway with bringing out shadow detail..expose for the highlights..if the highlights get blown your sunk..there's no recovering them..shadows can more easily be dodged a little or adjusted with levels or the RAW editor
She also shoots with Canons and Canons seem to trend towards brighter highlights..not a bad thing, just some thing to remember.
I would suggest bracketing the images and then layering..but that's a tedious way to do it, and I hate all that post processing...I've also found that bright sun on the coots is just plain a pain..they are better shot on a bright but overcast day, thus lessening the chances for blowing out the beaks..sometimes the very early and very late day light is pretty golden and is bit more forgiving...
Frankly - they are a pain in the behind to expose properly! If you figure out a technique, let me know!!!

Thanks G, I did shoot several exposures in RAW but was not happy with any of them, I will try again in better light next time I hope. Sorry you were not there yesterday, we could have used your knowledge several times.

Harry those look really good compared to mine......lol

This is suppose to be a feature that the 40d has....Have you tried this yet???

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/40d/highlight-rendition.htm

Oh man I had it set but had to turn it off when in the studio last week because you cant use ISO 100 with it on, I will have to remember to reset it thanks.

The only bad thing about the highlight control/priority..it won't help if you overexpose the highlights, it just helps to hold some detail in the ones that are teetering on the edge...unfortunately blown highlights are just that..with little help of recovery..some burning can help..but if it's really overexposed in the highlights..ugh..your sunk.

Thanks G, I will try to do it better next time. Hopefully I can remember all this when I am shooting.

If you can remember all the stuff we need to, you are one up on me!
Harry - there's nothing wrong with your coot shots...go have a gander at half the ones at the stock agencies..they are the same way! LOL
Coots are just a pain in the behind to shoot and get everything exactly right...

Me getting one up on you will never happen. From looking at your photos I can tell you have forgotten more than I know.

FORGOTTEN being the key word in that sentence...heck Harry I still carry my manuals and a little notebook in my bag..cause I blank out so much..ask Bam...mid sentence my brain just stops..LOL

We should get along good, I was thinking the other day... oh well I forgot :D!

FORGOTTEN being the key word in that sentence...heck Harry I still carry my manuals and a little notebook in my bag..cause I blank out so much..ask Bam...mid sentence my brain just stops..LOL

I just did the same thing the other day with HD.....lol.....ask em.....I was like....wait, what was I talking about......Not that I have alot going on or anything though.......:rolleyes: