Sandhill Crane and Colt

[gail bisson]

Took this in March in Florida.
We found them by the side of a very busy road. Pulled over and just sat on the grass and waited for them to come to us. At one point, both parents were 1 foot away from me and the chicks were 6 inches from my foot. The adults were very trusting but were emitting a low pitched trill the entire time the chicks were very close to me. I like to think they were saying "It's OK kids. She is a GOOD human!".
Ann and I actually stopped traffic on the road at one point as the family decided to cross it twice .
Canon 1 DX 600 MM
ISO 800
SS 1/1600 F 6.3
Cropped of about 30% so 70% FF. Very minimal processing in LR and CS5. Nothing added or cloned.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks.

[Mike Singh]

Hi Gail
Nice moment captured.

[annmpacheco]

Terrific Gail, what a wonderful memory. Im sure we spent an hour or so just sitting and observing. How wonderful to be trusted and have them feed and walk around us, unafraid, but cautious... I remember sitting about twenty feet behind you and a crane in front of me stood directly by your back as you watched the others in front! Fabulous capture, detail is terrific and compositionally this frame has it all. Well done.

[Bill Dix]

What a sweet shot, Gail. Wonderful timing, and I agree with Ann about the comp. I'm sure it was a thrill to watch them so intimately. Well captured.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Very fun image, with the huge difference in scale between the colt and adult well shown. Food item a plus, soft bg, well exposed.

I hope you had a second body with a short lens on it when they got in tight!

Cheers

Randy

[Alex Becker]

Really nice Gail and such a lovely moment to capture and witness, especially with them so close. BG is great and the prey item and head angle of the chick is nice. DOF looks pretty good too. TFS