Sandhill in flight

[Indranil Sircar]

This weekend I stopped by Merced NWR on my way to Yosemite. I was pleasantly surprised to find thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Goose (both Snow and White Fronted) on the ground and in air. I took this image from the car. Settings were -

7D, Sigma 50-500 hand held
1/3200 sec, f/8 Mode: Av Metering: Evaluative Exp comp: -1/3 ISO: 800 AF mode: AI Servo AF

Your C&C will be appreciated.

[Arthur Morris]

With the sunny conditions, you could not have done any better. I like the amount of detail that we can see in the shadowed underwing. It is likely that a Linear Burn on the head and neck would even out the exposure a bit....

[Indranil Sircar]

Thanks Artie. Here is the repost with linear burn...

[Dan Busby]

Indranil - I think the burn helped the image by softening the harsh transition. I am also seeing better detail on the bird's right wing. I like the wing positions and the open mouth. Overall good sharpness. The blue sky really sets the bird off.

[Arthur Morris]

Improved. Do realize that with the sun shining brightly that the wings full down would completely eliminate the shadow line....

[Nico Steenberg]

Great sharpness and exposure. Like the comp and in flight pose :S3: