Sunset Crane

Gallery: AvianPosted January 26, 2011107 views13 comments

Here's a shot that I had hoped to capture at Bosque, a Sandhill Crane parachuting in to land against the sunset sky. I did some processing here. First, in levels, I pulled the black point about 40 points in, to reduce the crane and the bottom of the frame to a pure black. This had the welcome effect of intensifying the color of the sky also. I cloned a few feathers of another landing crane that were protruding above the skyline. Finally, I did NR to smooth the sky.

Your comments and critiques are appreciated. Please view larger version if possible.

Canon 7D, 500mm + 1.4x TC, tripod.

f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 2000

Crop to 56% of original (10 of 18MP)

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 26, 2011 at 9:39 PM

Nice silhouette, Brian. I like the landing "pose".

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on January 26, 2011 at 10:16 PM

Beautiful and interesting, Brian. There is an optical illusion here: if you keep looking at this image the crane at first seems to be flying towards us and then seems to be flying away from us (with a slightly unnatural wing look for the second view I think). Very nice post-processing. I like the sharp silhouette and the OOF horizon.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Loomis on January 26, 2011 at 10:21 PM

Very nice. Love the landing gear! Its nice when you have a clear idea of what you're after and actually get it. Great silhouette and warm skies.

Registered on January 26, 2010, 68 Posts, 719 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on January 26, 2011 at 10:50 PM

Your creative post processing has transformed the image into a work of art Brian.
This really came together nicely for you, I like it very much

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

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on January 27, 2011 at 5:40 AM

Nice one Brian - love the hanging legs and drooped wings

cheers
Rob

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

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 27, 2011 at 8:06 AM

Brian,

I love the landing pose of the crane and the beautiful colors in the background

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on January 27, 2011 at 9:08 AM

Love this image, well done

Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on January 27, 2011 at 12:56 PM

Great artistic work, Brian. I agree with Steve, depending how you look the crane, seems leaving or landing. Brilliantly done.

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

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 27, 2011 at 8:54 PM

Cool. Love the colors.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 27, 2011 at 10:25 PM

Pretty cool when you have previsualized a photo in your mind and you are able to actually capture that image. Excellent silhouette. Must have been a wonderful scene.

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

Comment posted by Sally King on January 28, 2011 at 12:22 AM

Very cool. An image I wouldn't even have imagined. Gorgeous color in the sunset and the pose of the crane works very well. No question what it is. Would be very nice printed big.

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

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on January 28, 2011 at 7:06 PM

This is a real beauty Brian. Both the bird and and the image. I'd say your post processing was about as good as it gets - at least for my tastes.

pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 28, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Gorgeous silhouette and a Bosque classic Brian

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