Among the cattails

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Seen while kayaking on Lake Mendota at dusk.  The water's surface holds a vast collection of life and litter.

At dusk, I was paddling slowly along the margin of cattails that towered over my head, trying to get a good photo.  They were impressively tall, but shooting up against the sky made a dull photo.

So I kept trying to capture a closeup of stalks emerging from the water.  I liked their different hues, but the composition lacked a focal point.

Then, I saw the feather lightly lying--barely in contact--with the surface of floating duck weed.  The light was fading as the kayak bobbed in small waves, so most of the photos were blurred.  As soon as I started to shoot, the kayak would drift out of position.  But I kept shooting--as many as 50 photos--till finally I got one  mostly in focus.