Sandhill Crane

Gallery: AvianPosted September 2, 2016203 views6 comments

Things have been a bit slow around here of late so I decided to go back to my images from a trip to Bosque del Apache in January 2013 to see if my processing skills have improved any since then. This one was rather crooked and didn't have much room to the right of the crane so I straightened it and stole some canvas from the left to add to the right then recropped the result.

1DIV, 500mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC, probably on a tripod with gimbal head, f/7.1, 1/1250, iso 320, manual exposure. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Straightened, canvas added and blended, some adjustments to tonality and brightness, used Topaz detail to bring out plumage texture in the crane. I had actually posted this then deleted it because the area of the far wing above the shadow was really bright and drew attention from the eye. I created another layer for it and reduced exposure by about 1/4 stop. Cropped to a 4x5 13.3 MP image before resizing. Taken January 18th, 2013 at 8:00 AM.

Your comments and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on September 2, 2016 at 4:31 PM

This looks good to me, Dennis. You've recovered wing detail and good shadow detail. The large version looks a little soft, but it may be me.... just had my eyes dilated after surgery on the left one. It may be sharp as a tac!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on September 2, 2016 at 9:47 PM

Very cool approach shot, Dennis. The head position and hanging legs are awesome. Great job adding the extra canvas. Not sure how to explain what I am seeing, but it appears you may have done too good of a job bringing out the details in the shadows, it appears a bit unnatural to see that much detail. Rather than a shadow, it appears the bird is two different colors. I hope that makes sense.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on September 3, 2016 at 3:45 AM

Hi Dennis. This is a good action shot and the PS surgery was expertly conducted. The bird was caught a split second before landing hence at that point it’s forward speed would have been close to zero, consequently I have reservations about the large amount of canvas up front. My feeling is that although you went to great pains to achieve that effect, the effort was counter productive. Although the original frame was not cropped to a large extent the subject was less than really sharp. I’m full of admiration for your current work and your recent series of the Cooper’s Hawk is truly outstanding. Cheers!
David

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on September 3, 2016 at 2:03 PM

Hi Dennis,

The head could be a tad sharper. Overall, I like the pose and the colors of the BG. I see a complete range of tones in the shadows and does not bother me too much. There's an adequate amount of light reflected from the surroundings to naturally lighten the shadows. You could use one of the dark luminosity masks to selectively tweak the shadows to deal with Matt and David's comments. We have quite a few of these guys around our property and I have yet to get a descent shot of one of them in flight. Looking at this image makes me want to go out and photograph one of these cranes before they migrate South for the winter........Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on September 3, 2016 at 2:26 PM

I like the shadow of the Sandhill Crane head on the wing. The light is wonderful.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Peter J. Morrissey on September 5, 2016 at 3:25 PM

HI Dennis
I like the landing and you did a great job controlling the light and recovering wind detail.
Peter

Registered on July 3, 2011, 188 Posts, 969 Comments