Whooping Cranes

Discussion

10 replies

Posted by Barry Southon on April 9, 2009 at 11:33 AM

Having visited Nebraska and viewed the Sand-hill Cranes last weekend it alone was a great treat for my wife and I. The bonus came in taking a cross country route back from Kearney to Kansas. We saw six Whooping Cranes in flight and feeding. The photographic results are not top line as I did not want to get too close. That said I would like to share the results.

Canon 1D mk111 Canon 800mm ISO800 f/11 1/8000sec. Handheld out of the car window + a great deal of luck.

As this species is in such a dire state I understand only 294 survive in the USA this was so special for us.

Thanks for looking.

Critique Comments Advice most welcome.

Barry

Milford Kansas

Posted by Wayne Rhodus on April 9, 2009 at 12:07 PM

Awesome experience Barry! Glad you were able to document the moment. I'm sure it will be a treasured memory for a long time to come. Thanks for sharing this!

Posted by Daniel Loomis on April 9, 2009 at 12:23 PM

No need to apologize. This is not the Avian Gallery after all!
Great capture. Must have been a thrilling sight to see live.
Is it possible to brighten or nudge the tone curves upwards a bit without adding a lot of noise?

Posted by Ed Cooley on April 9, 2009 at 1:27 PM

Incredible, thanks for posting.

Posted by Lon Sharp on April 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM

What a special encounter! Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Posted by Brad Mangas on April 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM

What a wonderful experience! I really appreciate sharing them.

Posted by Don Kurz on April 9, 2009 at 2:57 PM

Thanks for sharing and what a chance meeting. I just read today where the cranes did not do well at their wintering grounds in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. The birds suffered a higher amount of mortality than usual but the numbers weren't posted.

I just did a Google search and found this link:
here

Best,
Don

Posted by Barry Southon on April 9, 2009 at 3:15 PM

Daniel

My post processing expertise is non existant hence the post is as shot in RAW then resized to post in PS4. I tend to hold off the PP because I mess up rather than improve the quality of shots. Likewise with cloning my excuse then is well its the natrual environment.

I get a buzz from finding the species then getting into a photographing position to record the find.

Barry

Milford Kansas

Posted by Daniel Loomis on April 9, 2009 at 4:20 PM

Barry - It can get rather addictive! Striving for that perfect capture is what keeps me going out the door before daylight on my days off! You would think a grown man would have better sense! Glad you got the bug. Keep 'em coming.

Posted by Scott Bean on April 9, 2009 at 11:35 PM

Wow that would be so cool to have seen, thanks for sharing!

Posted by Aaron Szabo on April 10, 2009 at 9:07 PM

Thanks for sharing this. That must have been special!