Sandhill Cranes 2 & repost

Gallery: AvianPosted April 4, 2012136 views14 comments

I had a wonderful morning with these birds a Rowe Sanctuary on March 16th so you may get tired of them. I liked this one because of the sunlit birds against the foggy bg. I had a bit of trouble with the crop (this is the third iteration) because they were just a little further above the grass than I would have liked. I finally ended up just retaining enough of the grass to anchor the bottom of the image. I've also debated removing the little bit of foggy tree in the URC since it isn't anchored to anything.

1DIV, 500mm ISL, Black Widow on RRS legs, f5.6 1/16400, iso 800, Av mode with no compensation, normal processing in CS5, cropped to 10.4 MP (right , top and bottom). Taken at 9:22 am.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 4, 2012 at 9:54 PM

Excellent lighting and grouping of the 3 Dennis, I was wondering what the thing in the urc hand corner was so I might go ahead and take it out.

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

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 4, 2012 at 10:07 PM

Hi Dennis. I love the soft light and moody feel from the bg. Great dof too.

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on April 4, 2012 at 10:38 PM

This is really nice. I love the sharpness and light of the birds against the blurriness and fog of the rest of the image.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on April 4, 2012 at 11:54 PM

Ditto Nate. You caught them just right!

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

Comment posted by Peter Cross on April 5, 2012 at 1:50 AM

Great image, Dennis. With the perfect exposure and a wonderful BG, these birds just pop off the page. Well composed with lots of detail. A nice action shot. URC doesn't bother me. I don't think I would have noticed it if you hadn't mentioned.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on April 5, 2012 at 8:33 AM

I agree that the light on the cranes with the foggy bg environment really make the image. I really like how you handled the exposure to show the conditions and environment. I would not change a thing and leave the URC tree in. Great Job.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on April 5, 2012 at 8:49 AM

I really like the DOF , sharpness of the birds and BG. Nice photo, Dennis.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on April 5, 2012 at 8:55 AM

Great image. The fog really adds to the mood. The wing position of the birds makes the comp that much better. I was at the Rowe Sanctuary on March 18th. We didn't have fog, but a few clouds very low on the eastern horizon blocked the very early sun. Other wise a great morning. Someday I'll find someone to share one of their photo blinds with and spend the night on the river and get both sunset and sunrise images.

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

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 5, 2012 at 2:54 PM

Wonderful composition with the fog and wing positions of the cranes, I like that you left some of the grass along the bottom, nice job getting all 3 in focus with some detail, excellent shot.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 5, 2012 at 5:36 PM

Awesome photo Dennis!!! Great light on the cranes and I love that foggy background. I would be tempted to remove the floating branches too. Excellent Work!

Ken Archer

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on April 5, 2012 at 7:23 PM

This is really nice Dennis. I love this comp with the fog and trees setting the cranes in a nice enviroment. Very enjoyable to look at!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 5, 2012 at 10:02 PM

Here's a version with the URC cleaned up.

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

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 6, 2012 at 7:12 PM

sweet shot, Dennis. love the comp with the balance in the birds' poses as well as the misty morning feel. urc isn't a big deal to me, but it does look better cleaned up.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 10, 2012 at 2:31 AM

Beautiful comp and complementary wing positions Dennis

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