Baby caiman

This is a baby caiman in the middle of water hyacinth in Brazil’s Pantanal.  I was surprised at how close we could get before it disappeared below the water. The mirror refection drew my eye to the composition, and the compelling expression of the reptile – if reptiles actually have expressions – held my attention.  I used a 500mm telephoto for the shot, and the settings were 1/2500, f/7.1, and 6400.  I should have slowed the shutter speed down so I could lower the ISO.  My camera was set up for birds in flight when I saw this, and I didn’t want to spend time changing the settings for fear of losing this picture.