Crane Flap 24x20 NEW
Feb, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken at a wildlife preserve near Monte Vista Colorado. This unique place is where one can photograph/view thousands of Sandhill Cranes, ducks, and geese flying against a backdrop of mountain scenery. Raptors are everywhere especially on the power poles and owls will be sitting with their babies if you are lucky enough to see them.Time
I shot the image around 10:00 in the morning. Honestly, not the best time to shoot because the Colorado sun is generally super bright but I guess one has the take the shot when one can.Lighting
As I said above the light was super bright. The best shooting is early morning and late evening when the cranes are just coming to eat or getting ready to fly off to a safe resting ground. However, underexposing in the bright sun I was able to process the image with somewhat cartoon-like detail.Equipment
I used a Nikon 800 with a 500mm prime lens fixed to a Heavy-duty Manifrotto tripod with a Wimberley head. Using this setup when the temperature is often below 20 degrees and the wind is constantly blowing from 25 to 40 mph is a must. Unfortunately, even this super heavy setup isn't enough to combat the environment. I got lucky with this shot...it was in focus.Inspiration
Hard to describe the beauty of seeing thousands and thousands of cranes in one spot. The beauty of the surroundings and the elegance of the birds is all the inspiration one needs. And believe me, I need a lot of inspiration to go out in that cold and wind to shoot.Editing
Post-processing is a must when I saw this image of the bird, wing combination. I mostly used Lightroom for the initial processing. Getting the image to a printable state and then used Photoshop to eliminate the clutter of the background. Since I wanted to highlight the single birds gesture the background was just too visually confusing.In my camera bag
First, the 500mm Nikkor lens used in this shot is not normally in my bag. One needs a Sherpa or a very week mind to schlep this monster glass into the field. Fortunately, on this trip, I qualified on both criteria. Normally my bag consists of a Nikon D850 Camera with a Nikon SB-500 Speedlight. The lenses I carry are a 28-300 Nikkor Zoom, a 17-35 Nikkor Zoom and an 8mm-15mm Kikkor Fisheye. Occasionally I also carry an 80-200 Nikkor Zoom.Feedback
My only advice if you are trying to capture a similar shot is to dress VERY warm and be patient. Or, since Sandhill Cranes are to be found in much warmer environments like zoos, etc. you can go there and hunker down and just wait for the shot.
