Posted by John W. Wall on February 13, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Another shot of the cranes from last Friday. There was a slight awning on the refuge's interpretive display which I was able to use for cover from the rain and as a hide. It would be a great place to shoot on a clear morning because the cranes land in a field west of your shooting position and you'd have the sun over your shoulder. Unfortunately, you might also experience, as I did, someone driving in and frightening off the cranes that you'd been patiently watching get closer and closer from your hide.
Posted by Cory Freeman on February 13, 2007 at 9:45 PM
Looks like a place you might have to go back to over and over, bummer huh?
Posted by Dan Truong on February 17, 2007 at 1:12 AM
How come your shots are so grainy? What hardware are you using?
Just currious... The people I've seen shoot birds all all seem to own billion dollar equipment, and some photos posted on NP are mindblowing in rendering.
This looks like a cool spot, John. I love the birds. You might consider cloning out the OOF stubble on the right. I agree with Dan that this has some noise issue, especially in the sky. Did you have to shoot at a high ISO because of the 'rainy' light?
Off topic: I noticed in your bio on the CANP homepage that you used to work for the Union Democrat in Sonora. I live in Columbia. When were you living in Tuolumne County? Congratulations on the CANP Cover Shot!
-PB
Posted by Scott Buckel on February 18, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Sandhill cranes are great photo subjects. Looks lilke you found a good spot to work them.
Have fun shooting them!
Scott
Posted by John W. Wall on February 20, 2007 at 5:39 PM
This was Kodak 400UC pro neg film. I've been getting very grainy results in low light, which this was (it was raining and early morning). I've got some of the Fuji 400 pro film on order and look forward to trying it out. I'm shooting a 300mm f/4 with a 1.7X, so I kinda need the high film speed. I keep trying to convince myself I don't mind grain, but dammit -- I DO! I've been shooting neg film just recently because my neighborhood E6 lab closed. I've shot birds with Velvia 100 but often ended up with evident subject movement in my shots. I've only recently been shooting birds and am working my way up the learning curve.
Preston, I was in Sonora for just about a year around '90. It was good to live up there. All I needed was a rich wife and I coulda stayed.
Discussion
5 repliesJust currious... The people I've seen shoot birds all all seem to own billion dollar equipment, and some photos posted on NP are mindblowing in rendering.
Off topic: I noticed in your bio on the CANP homepage that you used to work for the Union Democrat in Sonora. I live in Columbia. When were you living in Tuolumne County? Congratulations on the CANP Cover Shot!
-PB
Have fun shooting them!
Scott
Preston, I was in Sonora for just about a year around '90. It was good to live up there. All I needed was a rich wife and I coulda stayed.