Two Sandhill cranes flying neck and neck - Bosque

[Dennis Zaebst]

Two cranes captured at Bosque in November.

Canon 7D ISO 400
500 mm f/4L IS
1/1000 sec. @ f/10
AV mode, evaluative metering at 0 EV, no flash
camera and lens on gimbal head on Gitzo 1320

PP in LR 4.3; extended canvas at top; selective sharpening and NR of BG; clarity, vibrance, and saturation boosted slightly. Also slightly toned down cranes on ground in BG. Cropped for composition.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

[vishaljadhav]

Nice one Dennis
The wing position is wonderful, the focus looks nice and both the heads have good details the F10 was surely a good choice to get them in focus

[Marina Scarr]

Terrific sharpness, and I like the BG here. The only thing that could have improved this image is a full wing stretch upward. Agree that your small aperture was a great choice given the cranes' proximity.

[PhilCook]

Nailed it very nicely Dennis, both birds in great focus, enviable photography ! The focus on the heads is excellent as is the great in flight symmetry. If I were to be overly and unjustifiably picky hehehe....I would say I would rather not see the oof birds along the same level as the rear birds neck.

[gail bisson]

Very nice Dennis.
I like the perfect symmetrical wing positions.
I thought the same thing as Phil before reading his comments about the OOF cranes along the birds neck.
Gail

[Karl Egressy]

Nice symmetrical pose of the two, Dennis. Excellent light and sharpness. The image brings back good memories from last November.

[Diane Miller]

Perfect formation flying! Good catch!

[Dennis Zaebst]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Not sure what I can do about the OOF cranes along the neck of the rear bird. I tried the clone stamp tool in LR 4.3, but couldn't' seem to get it looking right. It seemed either I fuzzed up the neck, or left a white halo along the neck. Thanks again.