Ballet anyone?

Gallery: AvianPosted January 26, 201365 views6 comments

Another from Bosque del Apache. I wasn't certain about whether to leave the spectators in the shot or crop it more closely. I'd be interested in opinions. I did crop a hair off the left (to eliminate the neck of a third spectator) and a bit off the bottom and right, then cloned out the bill.

During the first few days of my visit, most of the water in the refuge was frozen over. There were tow small areas of slush in the northern crane pool where groups of 30 or 40 were roosting. As in the image Sandy Richards posted a while back, you'll see ice around the legs of some of the birds.

7D, 300mm f4 ISL, hand held. f7.1, i/1600, iso 320, manual exposure. Cropped to 13.5MP. Taken January 18th at 9:18 am at the north crane pool. Normal processing in CS5.

Your comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 27, 2013 at 8:08 AM

cool shot, Dennis. I like the additional DOF from the short focal length, putting that great-looking habitat in focus too. I love the pose of the bird taking off, with one leg extended and the other bent. I like having the other birds (and I especially like the shadow of the one on the other), though I wish the second one wasn't cut off. But knowing how these birds clump together, if you had all of that bird you'd probably only have part of the next one. Compositionally, the bird taking off is a little centered for me.

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

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 27, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Hi Dennis,
I do like the fact that this image shows much more than 'just a flying crane' (

- I still have to shoot a flying crane, so would already jumping all around the house when having made such an image) - but also shows the bystanders. Obviously it would have been triple-A when the 2nd birds shouldn't have been cut off, but hey... it's already great as presented. Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Marlise Launstein on January 27, 2013 at 2:01 PM

Nice! I like the sharpness of the birds, the pose, and I always like pictures of birds wings spread out!

Registered on August 31, 2011, 28 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on January 27, 2013 at 4:35 PM

Nice capture. Unusual leg positions for the crane. I'm not sure the spectators adequately balance the centered position of the launching crane. May be a matter of taste.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on January 27, 2013 at 6:25 PM

I like this as is, with the spectators, Dennis. Nice action shot.

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

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on January 28, 2013 at 6:44 PM

Are you sure the bird is taking off, or is doing a ballet with that one leg out? Nice color here, Dennis. The environment plays a big part in this image. Well done.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments