Sandhill Crane

Gallery: AvianPosted November 3, 2010220 views16 comments

Unfortunately, the nice weather the last couple of days hasn't coincided with opportunity to take advantage of it, so this one is from our trip to Bosque del Apache in February. We caught just the last few days before they headed north again.

70D, 500mm f4 + 1.4TC, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f8, 1/1000, Av mode, no compensation, iso 400. I had to apply 2 degrees of CCW rotation to even out the shoreline at the top of the image. Slight crop on the left and a more substantial one on the bottom for composition. Normal processing in CS4.

I always appreciate your comments and criticisms.

Thank you,

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 3, 2010 at 11:16 PM

Dennis - Love this - very sharp head and eye, contrasting with the soft wingtips and nice BG -
my only nit is the line at the top - I'd personally "smudge" up the bright area just below it to fill the top and get rid of the dark line.
A greater DOF would have brought all into focus - but I like this as is.

Nice!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 4, 2010 at 5:55 AM

I like the BG as posted Dennis. The bird is the def subject here. If anything, i would just crop down a tad bit more and eliminate the light part above the darker shoreline. More DOF would have been nice, but you were already at just 1/1000s for a flight shot. Maybe bumping up the ISO to 640 and going with a bit tighter aperture would have helped the far wing tip, but I like this as posed as the head, body, and feet are tack. Love the light too. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on November 4, 2010 at 7:10 AM

Like the golden tones Dennis - nice job

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on November 4, 2010 at 8:04 AM

Really nice Dennis, I Like that eye, the BG and the tiny water droplets falling from it's feet.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on November 4, 2010 at 8:44 AM

Dennis: This is a very nice flight shot of a Sandhill. Great light. Nice sharpness. I don't mind the slightly OOF far wing. Getting all of one of these guys in focus is nearly impossible with a long lens when they are flying at this angle. Those wing spans are BIG. You also did really well with the exposure. It is really easy to blow out the detail just below the eye where the face is much whiter. You held all the detail there. Fine image.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on November 4, 2010 at 9:38 AM

Looks super to me. Good lighting and detail, and I like the muted brown bg. Goes with the bird colors.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on November 4, 2010 at 12:39 PM

I like the look from the crane, composition and the water droplets by the feet add a nice touch. The larger image looked great, the dark background really helps bring out the details in the crane, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on November 4, 2010 at 7:12 PM

I agree with Ron about the slight crop. The slight oof on the wings did not bother me at all.Is it possible to get it all focused is this situation? Just a really nice shot!

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on November 4, 2010 at 7:16 PM

I like this a lot Dennis - one of your very best IMO. Wish it were mine!

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

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on November 5, 2010 at 12:20 AM

The techs are solid and image is very beautiful. I too have no issues with oof wings. From this pov it doesn't show the long legs, typical of crane.
Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on November 5, 2010 at 7:57 PM

excellent, Dennis. I like this as is. Not sure if I'll make it to Bosque this winter, but this sure makes me want to go.

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

Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 6, 2010 at 12:15 PM

Dennis,
I really like the flight pose and the colors. Great image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on November 6, 2010 at 3:05 PM

Great BG and lighting. A really nice shot, Dennis.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 6, 2010 at 6:19 PM

Sweet lighting and detail Dennis. I'd either like a little more at the top or just a little bit less to remove the darker line - although then it would be fairly tight on the wing tip.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on November 6, 2010 at 9:46 PM

I'm more than fine with it as posted, Dennis, line and all. Great lighting, detail and sharpness.

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

Comment posted by May Haga on November 7, 2010 at 6:40 PM

This is amazingly sharp Dennis. Great flight shot against a neat background.
May

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