A study in symmetry

[Randy Stout]

Good day all:

I was fortunate to go to the Jasper Pulaski wildlife area in Indiana yesterday to experience the sandhill crane gathering that occurs there this time of year annually. I have seen large numbers ( in the thousands) of sandhills in Michigan locally, but couldn't get close enough for decent images. At JP, they are still out there in many cases, but occasionally are much closer, a great sight really.

This pair of adults was flying into the site for the social hour. 10-20K cranes fly into one small area at sunrise and sunset each day to socialize.

What struck me about this image while reviewing was the potential symmetry, not just the wing position, but frame positioning, etc. It was slightly cropped to move the center of the image into the space between the feet of the lead bird and the bill of the trailing, both vertically and horizontally. I like the diagonal line of the birds as well.

Very interested in the groups thoughts on the composition.

D300 500mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, ISO 640 1/2500 sec, aperture 7.1

Post: CS4 PS crop for composition

Advice always appreciated.

Randy

PS: Thanks Gary for letting me tag along.

[Tony Whitehead]

I like the symmetry of the poses and the diagonal they form. The light looks nice and the rear bird with the under-lit far wing is especially nice. I would consider cropping a little from above and right to exchange a little compositional symmetry for dynamism. The symmetry of the poses and implied motion from a crop would work a little better to my eye. Sounds like an amazing spectacle. Similar gatherings of Brolga in Australia but not quite those numbers.

[denise ippolito]

Randy, I love the image and the symmetry as you mentioned. Either way for me w/ the crop. I like the details in the wings and the soft muted grey sky.

[Harshad Barve]

beautiful image , lovely symmetry and nice details in wings
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Randy, good to see both in perfect focus and sharp. Comp wise, they are a bit central so moving them back to the right, and taking a bit off the left will work. Well captured.

[Kiran Poonacha]

loved this randy, nice pose by the birds, nice details on both birds and good comp.. congrats..