Sandhill Cranes

Gallery: AvianPosted October 19, 2010371 views27 comments

Here's an image from last fall at Bosque del Apache. I had always wanted to get a crane interaction shot like this. I cropped it to square, which is about 50% of the frame because there was an out of focus crane in front of the lower part of the birds. The bird on the left wasn't quite as sharp as the bird on the right so I added a little selective sharpening to the face of it.

MkIII 500F4 1.4x 1/400 F8 iso 400, evaluative metering +0.3, Gitzo tripod

Comments

27 comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on October 19, 2010 at 7:56 PM

Love the intimate look at the behavior Nate. Nice look at the eye of both cranes and I like the setting and don't think the dark seed heads are an issue at all. I can never get this close to sandhills around here.

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

Comment posted by Paolo De Faveri on October 19, 2010 at 8:32 PM

Well, you nailed it I'd say! Great action capture indeed, and beautifully rendered in colours and contrast.

Paolo

Registered on August 29, 2007, 318 Posts, 1651 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on October 19, 2010 at 9:26 PM

Great image. I love the symmetry of their poses. Your selective sharpening is not visible. Well done.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on October 19, 2010 at 9:39 PM

Lovely image Nate. The symmetry of the pose makes the image IMO, and the selective sharpening is very well worked, virtually unnoticeable.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on October 19, 2010 at 11:27 PM

Beautiful image Nate. The square comp that you chose works very well here. Very nice lighting and both birds look plenty sharp to me. Congrats on a superb image.

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

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on October 20, 2010 at 4:05 AM

I can hear them bugling from way down here - excellent behavioural capture Nate. For the larger image, may I suggest a bit of extra selective sharpening around the eye of the bird at left.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 20, 2010 at 4:48 AM

Killer behavior photo Nate, I like the background too.

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Danny Laredo on October 20, 2010 at 6:03 AM

Love the pose and interaction.
I might consider taking a bit off the sides.

Registered on March 18, 2008, 71 Posts, 332 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on October 20, 2010 at 8:35 AM

Really nice interaction captured with a great BG. Nice job on the crop and comp. Nate.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on October 20, 2010 at 9:31 AM

Really great interaction Nate

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by denise ippolito on October 20, 2010 at 9:32 AM

Nate, Very nice poses and details look good.

Registered on December 17, 2009, 202 Posts, 1529 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on October 20, 2010 at 10:24 AM

Nice action shot of the cranes. They are such interesting birds to watch.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on October 20, 2010 at 10:32 AM

Engaging image, love the interaction I see Nate.
Even at a 50% crop it has held up very well. A testament to the image quality of the Mark III.
Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on October 20, 2010 at 12:07 PM

Awesome pose and the BG vegetation mimics the birds beautifuflly. I just wish for more bird on the bottom (but not much more)

- Luke

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by István Molnár on October 20, 2010 at 1:58 PM

Good work!
Nice comp. and colors.
István

Registered on January 7, 2010, 114 Posts, 704 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on October 20, 2010 at 3:01 PM

Nate,
a great interaction you captured here. Beautiful comp with appealing background.

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

Comment posted by David Haynes on October 20, 2010 at 4:10 PM

WOW Nate. You nailed this one. Beautifully composed and processed. Would love the chance to get to shoot these some time. I might head to New Mexico one day and get it done. Thanks for the inspiration Nate.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on October 20, 2010 at 7:13 PM

Cranes were going over all day here today headed south and then I came into the computer and saw your image. I can hear them as I look at it. Love those open mouths, great warm colors, and superb detail. Can't wait to get down to the Bosque and see the cranes there again.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on October 20, 2010 at 9:52 PM

Beautiful, Nate. Great poses and I love the bg.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on October 20, 2010 at 10:13 PM

This is pretty nice, Nate!

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on October 21, 2010 at 5:40 PM

Picture perfect.

Dan

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

Comment posted by Ron Huff on October 21, 2010 at 6:24 PM

Great shot Nate. I really like the pose and color also.

Ron Huff

Registered on August 31, 2010, 69 Posts, 440 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on October 21, 2010 at 7:33 PM

Great interaction and setting Nate, love the seed heads. How would a slightly narrower crop go?

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on October 22, 2010 at 1:14 AM

Really beautiful poses and setting Nate. Wonderful photo.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Backlund on October 23, 2010 at 12:58 PM

A prize winner for sure!

Registered on September 29, 2005, 252 Posts, 3380 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on October 25, 2010 at 5:32 PM

Nate, I meant to comment on this, then ... anyhow, this a fine image. I'm hoping to get some interaction shots this Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing, and hope you have a great workshop !

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 25, 2010 at 5:48 PM

Thanks everyone for your kind comments!

Thanks Bill! Good luck yourself down there.

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