OK, I'll jump in. I was teaching a workshop last week with Nebraska photographer Michael Forsberg, who published "On Ancient Wings". We were based at Zapata Ranch and had 12 students. In addition to Mike, we had John Rawinsky, a great local naturalist, who knows pretty much everything about San Luis Valley ecology. Although we were across the valley from Monte Vista, the ranch is right next to the dunes and has a resident bison herd that looks very photogenic in front of the Crestones. Besides an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 cranes, there were sightings of Steve Weaver and Todd Caudle. Zapata did an amazing job with gourmet food and accomodations, and Duke Phillips, who manages both Zapata and Chico Ranches gave a great talk on holistic ranching and the Phillips' approach to land management. Michael Forsberg is an ILCP fellow and one of the top conservation photographers anywhere. The week was very rewarding for me personally, and the Phillips family will change any preconceptions about ranching in a very positive way. Steve Weaver has a workshop coming up this summer and it looks like we'll be doing more of these.
Zapata Ranch is worth checking out! http://www.zranch.org
I went early and made quite a few images before everyone came in for the workshop. My main focus was on in-flight images.
These are superb! #2 is my favorite, with #3 not far behind. I especially like the creative use of framing of #3 and the silhouettes of #2. Quite unique views of these birds.
And thanks a bunch for the link to the Zapata Ranch. The Nature Conservancy is high on my list of worthy causes to support.
Posted by Jeff Hackett on March 28, 2011 at 8:47 PM
All three are excellent! I like #3 the best because of the mountain backdrop, awesome!
Posted by Kurt Bowman on March 29, 2011 at 12:18 AM
Nice set of images Dave. My fav is #2...that would have been a nice entry in last week's challenge which was a silhouette theme. Dan and I ran into Steve (I actually thought it might be you...I only met you in person that one time a year and a half ago, so hope I didn't offend Steve...opps, I mean you...well, I will let you two determine who that offends).
Posted by Doug Koepsel on March 29, 2011 at 11:53 AM
I like the last 2 and might consider more of a crop of the sky in #3. The light hitting the cranes in front of the mountains is nice.
Discussion
9 repliesZapata Ranch is worth checking out! http://www.zranch.org
I went early and made quite a few images before everyone came in for the workshop. My main focus was on in-flight images.
These are great, Dave. All three are so different from each other. For some reason every time I look at #2, it reminds me of an M.C. Escher piece.
Keep 'em comin'!
And thanks a bunch for the link to the Zapata Ranch. The Nature Conservancy is high on my list of worthy causes to support.