Sherry Icardi  

Sand Hill Crane by Sherry Icardi

April 2021 - Sand Hill Crane

About the Image(s)

This beautiful specimen is one of the mated pair at a NWR spots I visit frequently. We are into nesting season and the pair had just finished their ritual of honking trying to give us our boundaries. They are flamboyant and noisy in their effort to discourage you from getting too close to their nest! After they had completed their ritual they suddenly took off right in front of me. I managed to get several shots of them flying away but I liked the background on this rather than just a blue sky.

I am trying to force myself to use my Sony with a 100-400 lens (with 1.4 Teleconverter) because when the colts come out they will get very close to people (they are very comfortable with human presence after the colts hatch but while still incubating they are less tolerant). I am much more comfortable with my 500mm but when they get close it is way too much glass for good images. Particularly if you are trying to get the adults as well as colts.

This was taken 1/1000 sec (they had just taken off and were gliding)
F/8
346mm
ISO 160

This round’s discussion is now closed!
8 comments posted

Donald Dunn   Donald Dunn
A difficult subject to capture, and you did well! Might try "leveling" the tree line. Great photo.   Posted: 04/09/2021 12:05:17
Sherry Icardi   Sherry Icardi
see my comments below   Posted: 04/16/2021 16:41:53
Sarita Yeola   Sarita Yeola
Sherry, I would like to see the sand hill cranes some day. I was looking out for them this migrating season but with no luck. This is a beautiful image of this beautiful bird. Very nice!   Posted: 04/09/2021 14:15:59
Judy Haran   Judy Haran
This is a lovely photo of the sand hill crane, the light in his eye is such a good glint. The only thing I might do is to play with Temp and/or contrast to see if you can put a bit more blue in the sky, or some definition in the clouds.   Posted: 04/09/2021 15:20:53
Sherry Icardi   Sherry Icardi
See below, but I don't think this is really right yet!   Posted: 04/16/2021 16:42:06
 
Nicely done!
Beautiful photograph!   Posted: 04/11/2021 10:19:53
Sherry Icardi   Sherry Icardi
The reason the trees aren't level is they really aren't in this area of the wetlands, so I argued with myself and decided to leave them alone.....but I did try it and they really do look better straight.

Second Judy's suggestion about the sky too a little more effort. It was not a great day and mostly overcast, but changing the sky would not have helped the even light on the bird. So instead I played with HSL slider to improve the blue in the sky.   Posted: 04/16/2021 16:41:34
Comment Image
Judy Haran   Judy Haran
Changing the slider was a good idea.   Posted: 04/16/2021 18:40:59