Sandhill Crane

Gallery: AvianPosted December 2, 2009138 views13 comments

Photo taken Nov. 11, 2009 at Bosque del Apache NWR about 45 minutes after sunrise. Brightness, Levels, Sharpening, and Saturation adjustrments made using Lightroom 2 and CS3. Cropped to about 70% of full frame horizontally and 80% vertically. I used the clone tool to remove a small segment of the wing of another bird in the upper left corner and a small bright spot in the upper right corner.
D300, 500 mm f/4, handheld
ISO 800, 1/1250 sec, f/8
Comments and suggestions desired.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 2, 2009 at 2:17 PM

Beautiful flight image, David. I really like the way the light falls on the far wing and shows the feather layering.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on December 2, 2009 at 2:29 PM

I love those couple of drops falling off the feet. Nice light and very good details. The face looks just a tad bright to me but then I am coming to the understanding that I like my images a tad dark. Beautiful image.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by bill meikle on December 2, 2009 at 3:45 PM

Beautiful shot David, it's hard at Bosque to make a simple composition, too many birds, and you have done well. Nice lighting.

Registered on May 21, 2006, 173 Posts, 663 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on December 2, 2009 at 5:43 PM

You got some great detail here David . Some really good shots of this species are being posted lately and this one is no exception. Good PS work too.
For neat-freaks like me, I'd remove the darker blob to the left of the bird, but this is of course minor, and some would leave it as is.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on December 2, 2009 at 11:09 PM

Beautiful BIF capture, David. Lovely detail, subtle, very attractive coloration. I looked very closely and could see no trace of your cloning work. I'm fine with this image as posted.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on December 3, 2009 at 8:55 AM

nice and sharp with good DOF on this big bird. I like the bg as well. I think that there is a very slight halo along the top of the bill and neck.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Donato on December 3, 2009 at 5:10 PM

Beautiful shot David, love the bg colors and details are awesome. Very well executed.

Registered on January 27, 2009, 29 Posts, 247 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on December 3, 2009 at 7:15 PM

David,

Great view of the feathers on underside of the wing, flight pose, light and details. I really love the water droplets trailing behind the crane and the setting is simply beautiful. Wonderful eye contact, colors and choice of comp.

Excellent as posted.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Twaddell on December 3, 2009 at 11:53 PM

Just plain excellent, David!

Registered on August 16, 2007, 199 Posts, 2132 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on December 4, 2009 at 6:35 AM

Another beauty David - like the strong downbeat of the wings and once again your background adds perspective.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on December 4, 2009 at 5:06 PM

Excellent, nice sharp detail, great action.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on December 5, 2009 at 9:30 AM

Excellent light and detail on the underside Dave. The setting is spectacular and your comp works well for me. I like the two trailing water drops and the darker area in front of the crane is a non-issue for me. One of the better BIF images of this species I've seen.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen on December 6, 2009 at 12:28 PM

Excellent flight shot. What l like most is probably the smallest item in the photo, but I like the small water droplets trailing off the feet. I can just picture the lift-off.

Registered on November 11, 2007, 42 Posts, 803 Comments