{"id":104626,"date":"2021-11-30T05:23:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=104626"},"modified":"2021-11-30T07:54:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T14:54:36","slug":"fighting-male-ring-necked-pheasants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/30\/fighting-male-ring-necked-pheasants\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Male Ring-necked Pheasants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost a miracle shot, given the conditions.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I received an image request (actually a request to use my image as a reference for a painting) from a classically trained English portrait painter who has recently concentrated on painting “birds in motion”. The photo she was interested in was one of fighting Ring-necked Pheasants that I’d completely forgotten about. You know, out of sight out of mind. When I found it again last night I remembered it clearly and how much I liked it. And realized that I’d posted it nine years ago so very few current blog followers have seen it.<\/p>\n

So, this photo is a rerun, one that I hope my readers enjoy seeing half as much as I enjoyed rediscovering it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1\/640, f\/9, ISO 500, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

The photo was taken at Farmington Bay WMA immediately after sunrise so I didn’t have much light. I saw them fighting from a distance but I had to turn my pickup around to photograph them out my window and as I did so I tried to figure out what camera settings to use in the low light. I had little hope of getting fighting shots sharp in the dim light and resulting slow shutter speed, especially since I’d probably need extra depth of field to get two birds sharp, but I was sure going to try.<\/p>\n

I got luckier than I had a right to hope for.<\/p>\n

When fighting, Ring-necked Pheasants flutter up against each other breast to breast, bite each other\u2019s wattles and sometimes make high leaps toward each other using their claws, bills and spurs as weapons. It can be quite dramatic.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the things I like about the photo:<\/p>\n