Solitary Sandhill Crane in Morning Light at the Bernardo Wildlife Area
Weather patterns, agricultural decisions, and fewer cranes mean greater difficulty in knowing where to set up to get morning takeoffs of the Sandhill Cranes at the Bosque del Apache as they had out for a day of eating. And some playing. So. In order to gain advantage from adversity, I decided to go to the Bernardo Wildlife Area to photograph them arriving, rather than departing from the Bosque. I knew I wouldn't have decent light for some time, but wanted to be in place a half hour prior to sunrise just to see and hear the herds arriving. It was thrilling, of course. And a bit later in the morning, the sweetest light was adequate for making the photographs I sought.
ORIGINAL
Canon 1DX, 500mm f/4
Tripod/gimbal
1/2000, f/4, ISO auto (400)
Evaluative metering, +1 stop
AI Servo, BBF, Spot expanded (8)
In Lightroom, + Shadows, - Highlights; allowed lens correction / CA
In Photoshop, Smart Sharpen, +30, radius .5
In working to balance crop and noise, I went to 200% with this crop and saw little noise. Acceptable for the Web I think. But I did see some light CA around the red crown, and the black of the primaries. Adding the CA correction in LR seemed to have little effect.
I'm eager to see your C&C. If you want to use the outline in the next entry, that would be fine. But please don't consider that as a limit.
I'm going to use the notes from my prior thread as a guide to preparing, shooting, processing, and evaluating images. Whew!
Balance between crop and color and noise and . . . Overexpose and bring it down | I worked on that in post, and though it resulted in a loose crop in the final image, it was still pretty hefty overall. Acceptable noise in the dark areas. Get closer and/or longer lens | A 2X TE would have helped immensely. Lesson learned. Perhaps. Set good shutter speed | I think it was adequate. It's my default setting. In general don’t worry about ISO with 5D III or 1DX | Okay. Avoid hefty cropping | Not this time. Simplify workflow | Okay. Be careful lowering luminance | NA Get longer! | Right. Will do. Test to learn about atmospheric shimmer. | Next time. Insure camera is set up correctly. | Default settings, plus 1 stop Less is more. | Got it this time. Look at the image and think | I was doing that on automatic, not mindfully. Write it down | I'm going to try that. Not there yet.
Lovely pose in glorious light, perfect exposure and tonalities. Your shooting specs look good, equipment is top-notch as I suspect is the processing, but the big crop has caused the IQ to take a hit.
Try to get closer to some, even on the ground, and compare the detail rendered.
Sometimes CA isn't fully corrected. Have a look at Lens Corrections > Color > Defringe (in LR/ACR) and play with the sliders --- they're pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes they help. The best lenses just have some color aberrations that can't be (or aren't) corrected.
Jim, ditto what Diane has mentioned. the lovely morning light, with those big birds coming in must have been something to see. Your cranes are like my brolgas. I have never been able to get close enough. The only time I did see them close up was walking down the main street of the Outback town of Boulia. Of course, I got some lovely shots as they crossed the bitumen road, between the trucks and 4WDs!
Don't put a lot of hope on using a 2X for birds in flight. The 1DX will be best bet for it but AF will be slow and limited to the center point with 4 helpers. (That may have needed a firmware upgrade -- I haven't used the 1DX. It did for the 5D3 and if I remember right, for the7D2.) And the more magnification, the harder to keep a subject in the frame. But the 1.4X should be excellent, and getting closer is the best help of all.
Nice pose and light Jim but you need to figure out how to get closer. It is THE key to ALL quality avian photography. Try to find a flight path that comes closer to the road or set yourself up somewhere that you can sit and wait for them to fly closer. Keep working it.
Come join me for a Custom Raptor Workshop starting this November 2019- January 2020.
P.M. me to inquire on dates, pricing and availabilities. Thank You. www.davidsalemphotography.com
David, I am grateful for your response. Since you and Diane emphasize it, working on getting closer will be my priority.
By the way, though I've enjoyed being in New Mexico and getting to the Bosque and Bernardo frequently, I'm moving back to southern California, probably in August. And I'm looking forward to attending one of your raptor workshops.
Solitary Sandhill Crane in Morning Light at the Bernardo Wildlife Area
