For Dorian... Furballs on sticks...

[David Roach]

EOS R RF 70-200 @200 f2.8 1/5300 ISO 400

Arrived at Loxahatchee NWR two hours before sunset. Asked the first photographer I saw if he knew where the Cranes might be. He said they have the same routine every evening. They come from the eastern front of the reserve to their nest in the western containment pond. This reserve is right at the edge of the everglades where their are berms for water retention and for buffers between glades and cities. You can only walk on berms as the sloughs are left as they were naturally as part of the glades. So I asked, Do they use the berms. He said, yep they even use a a small man made bridge to get to western containment where their nest is located. No sooner did he say this, they popped out of the vegetation to the east. So, for about a third of a mile I tried to stay ahead, set up and run ahead again. They purposefully trotted the whole way. It was so comical one family asked if I was the pied piper. They went exactly as the photographer described.

[Randy Stout]

David:

Really fun story. Nicely exposed. I like the two chicks, but wonder if you have any images where there is no overlap? A few feet further to your left would have allowed them to be separated, but perhaps was not possible. Would also be fun to see a bit more DOF. I know it is always a balance of subject isolation and background detail, but fun to try different settings when you have the chance.

TFS, made me smile.

Randy

[John Mack]

This works well for me with the front bird sharp and the one in the background out of focus. The light was sure nice. Like the raised foot. A touch more below would be nice.

[Daniel Cadieux]

A fun story for sure! And a fun image too. In a perfect world there would indeed be separation between the two cranes. The large shadow between them is also unlucky. I love the comp, sharpness, and the diagonal created by the vegetation line crossing the image.

[David Roach]

A fun story for sure! And a fun image too. In a perfect world there would indeed be separation between the two cranes. The large shadow between them is also unlucky. I love the comp, sharpness, and the diagonal created by the vegetation line crossing the image.

Thanks John, Randy and Daniel for your always valued inputs. Talk about exhilarating and exasperating at the same. This is only the second time I've had a chance at Sandhill colts (on the bucket list). And to have the family literally letting me walk within inches during this march as if I was part of the family (are they typically this tame? Especially parents...). Yet they wouldn't make it easy to get images. When I ran ahead it seemed like they sped up. No time to get to knee as I'd turn to frame the shot they were almost on me again (why there's not enough room at the bottom of this one). So, I tried to position for the light and composition (not to mention people now following in the BG). Even saw the only shade on the trek ahead and ran to get rid of shadows. They slowed down only as they got to their slough. The previous image was taken in their slough as they were almost to the nest. Every second was fun though, as I thought to myself "Somehow, Daniel would get the perfect FF image in this situation... One day... One day... not soon, though...".

[Colin Driscoll]

Nice anecdote and shot of those 'knobbly-kneed' youngsters. Well done under the challenging circumstances.

[Dorian Anderson]

The oversized legs, feet, and knobby knees are so fun! Great direct state and facial detail on the lead birds, and I like the OOF sibling behind. A bit more offset between the pair would
be ideal, but it looks pretty good as is. Cheers!