Sandhill cranes 2

[Linda Dulak]

Nonda stimulated me to post this image which was taken in Dec 2008 at Sarasota, Fl. I had not seen more than a pair of sandhills prior to seeing them there. This was taken on our last night in Fl when they came in earlier than expected and we had good light.

Tech: Nikon D300, 80-400VR handheld at 330 mm, 1/640s @f8, +.3EC.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Linda

I like the action and how well you captured both Not easy going for pairs since dof is an issue, well done.

Might try going back to the raw and bringing some detail in the light areas. LR does an incredible job and easy. Used to take lots of expertise working the curves but its child's play now !!!

sure hope you got a few more of this pair, its a treat watching the behavior !!!..... btw had answered before and hit the wrong button !

[Nonda Surratt]

Linda,

Glad you decided to post this image! Super nice action and I love the upraised wings on the left side bird.
More please!

Alfred covered the fancy stuff (tech)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Linda,
well done on the composition, image and capture...I like the action; the details and color rendition are superb...:cool:

[denise ippolito]

Linda, The colors look good-I like the capture-well done!!

[Katie Rupp]

What a great capture, Linda; love the action, details and good dof. I might give it just a bit of ccw rotation.

[Linda Dulak]

Thanks all. I forgot to add that this was taken at ISO 800.

Al: You mentioned Lightroom. I have CS3 now. Lightroom is that much better? I worked with curves to try to get definition in the white patches but wasn't particularly successful. I found that I had probably overexposed for the white to keep the noise down in the darker areas -- always a tough job. We were always fighting the light, shutter speed with the action and avoiding blowing whites. Would you suggest getting Lightroom or upgrading to CS4? I believe the cost would be about the same.

Katy: I checked the image and it was level to the horizon. I think the tiny rotation you were suggesting is due to the right hand bird being just a bit closer than the left bird.

These birds were coming in to rest on the pond for the evening. Most would come in during a half hour time period. It was a terrific experience to see these birds, totally unafraid of people. In fact, one pair decided to land behind the row of photographers with lenses pointed the other direction. Eventually a jogger came by and scared them to flight -- right over my head! The wingtips on one actually brushed my cheek.

Linda