American Coot (feet exposed)

Posted by Ken Newcombe on Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:39 pm

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I have tried for a few years to get a Coot is such a way the unique feet are shown to good effect. This one sunned itself for over an hour before sliding back into the water and allowing one good frame with the feet exposed.

10D
Canon 500 f4.5 x1.4
1/500 sec, f/10
ISO: 200
AF mode: Manual Focus
Flash: External E-TTL High speed sync
Flash exp comp: -1/3, BB

Last edited by Ken Newcombe on Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:46 pm

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Fine image showing those unique feet.

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by Alan Melle on Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:53 pm

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Terrific image! Excellent job with the exposure to keep detail in the blacks and not blow the whites. Nice catch showing the interesting feet of these guys.

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by Sandy Mossberg on Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:59 pm

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I love it, Ken. Tough exposure but you did well. Coot feet are the coolest feet in the birding world. I once took a close-up of a single "sausage" foot using several stacked converters. Gotta find it.

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by ajhand on Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:04 pm

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Great feet. They look like something from another animal altogether. Nice exposure to handle all the black plus the white bill. This looks a tiny bit flat on my screen.

aj

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by Harvey Edelman on Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:20 pm

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Nicely balanced in the frame and the exposure is very good with judicious use of flash. Was a slightly lower angle available?

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by Ken Newcombe on Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:00 pm

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Harvey Edelman wrote:Nicely balanced in the frame and the exposure is very good with judicious use of flash. Was a slightly lower angle available?

If I was any lower I would have have been in the water. As it was I got my foot wet.

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by LHays on Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:25 pm

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Ken
Excellent exposure and wonderful display of their unique feet. When I first started doing birds I saw a coot out of water.....I was upset that I hadn't gotten him in the water. If I'd only known then what I know now. Great shot!!!

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by fredcor on Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:30 pm

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The whole image is great, the feet are an incredible bonus!

Latafat

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by KK Hui on Mon Dec 01, 2003 7:30 pm

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Feet up, Ken!

Excellent to see the Coot feet which is so special in itself. I've taken some shots of a Eurasian Coot here in Hong Kong yesterday but it was too shy to show me its feet ...

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by AlexC on Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:06 pm

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Love the detail on those feet, I don't know if they are going into web feet or away from them!!!, Congrats!!!

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by Jim Urbach on Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:42 pm

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Ken, Thanks for this image. I never realized their feet were so unusual.

Jim

Enjoy viewing

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by matt kuchta on Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:17 pm

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Funky!

Great exposure and what super detail on those feet.

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by Bill Whala on Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:33 pm

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Ken,

You were fortunate to find one that allowed its feet to dry. I've seen their feet out of water but had no idea they looked like this when dry.

Well done!! Congrats.

Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"

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by Jill on Tue Dec 02, 2003 12:09 am

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Great image, Ken !!! Excellent detail throughout !! Especially love the eye and, of course, its huge feet !!! In addition to Coots, only grebes and phalaropes have lobed toes.

Jill Rosenfield

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by Jim Zipp on Tue Dec 02, 2003 7:52 am

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I've never seen their feet illustrated so well. Nice catch.

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by Alan Murphy on Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:11 am

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Ken, this is awesome. love everything about it.

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by John Varley on Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:23 am

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Great shot Ken - shows the feet wonderfully well. Perhaps if the body of the bird was a little darker it would be an even better foil for the feet.

John Varley

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by E.J. Peiker on Tue Dec 02, 2003 10:41 am

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Your exposure here is fantastic - this is a tough bird to get that much black detail and not totally blow the bill. The feet are of course very cool.

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by BrianS on Tue Dec 02, 2003 1:09 pm

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During my time at Bosque Greg told me the feet on these guys were pretty cool but I had no idea just how wild they were. Of course I tried for a shot of them out of the water but never saw one -- this is excellent and quite different from the usual for a coot pose.

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