{"id":64306,"date":"2018-10-07T04:28:29","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T10:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=64306"},"modified":"2018-10-07T05:40:47","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T11:40:47","slug":"lessons-i-learned-photographing-fighting-coots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/07\/lessons-i-learned-photographing-fighting-coots\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons I Learned Photographing Fighting Coots"},"content":{"rendered":"

These photos of brawling coots\u00a0are among the very first I ever took with my brand new\u00a0500mm lens over eleven years ago, on June 18, 2007.<\/p>\n

And I was also using my first DSLR camera, a\u00a0Canon Rebel XTi that only took 10 MP photos. It was a tiny camera for a DSLR but it was relatively\u00a0cheap and about all I could afford given the huge investment I’d recently made in that very expensive lens. I remember asking the guy at the camera store if that camera would work with my\u00a0500 and still maintain autofocus and I’ll never forget his response – “Yes, it’ll work but that little camera will look pretty silly on the end of that\u00a0monster lens”.<\/p>\n

I had a lot to learn…<\/p>\n

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1\/500, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon Rebel XTi, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

I found the fighting coots on Glover Pond near Farmington Bay. I didn’t know what I was doing so I just fired\u00a0away and hoped for the best.\u00a0Coots often fight with their feet…<\/p>\n

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1\/800, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon Rebel XTi, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

while laying on their backs on the water and these guys were pretty vicious about it. Most of the time the coot on the right was just an onlooker but eventually…<\/p>\n

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1\/800, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon Rebel XTi, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

it couldn’t resist joining in on the brouhaha.<\/p>\n

Like most bird fights this one was\u00a0highly entertaining but\u00a0I’m not posting the photos because I’m particularly\u00a0proud of them. I just made too many beginner’s mistakes, including but not limited to the following:<\/p>\n