Sandhill Crane Fight

[david cramer]

D300 with 300 2.8vr, f/8, 1/1250, iso 400, ev -0.67

[Peter Farrell]

What a fantastic capture. You really stopped the action well. Good detail. Maybe a little more room on the left if possible. If I had seen this I would have been lucky to remember to take the picture.
Peter

[Jim Fenton]

I like this a whole lot David :)

Sharpness and pose is excellent and I agree with Peter that a little more room to the left would have been a bit more optimal.

If the left birds outstretched feet had been visible, it would have really put it over the top.

[Danny J Brown]

I hate to steal Artie's vernacular but....killer image, David! This is a dream shot that we all hope for every day we are in the field for hours at a time. I guess you could crop the right side a little more to balance the tight left side but I don't think you need to do anything to make this one any better. Well done.

[Arthur Morris]

Obvioiusly a great job of capturing spectacular action. Sharp. Needs lots more room all around but you did great getting them in the frame at all. Sometimes a long lens is a handicap.... I like that you see at least the one toe of the bird on our left.

A bit too bright and contrasty. Toned down with a reverse S curve and a 20% Linear Burn on the brightest highlights. Hope that I did not over-do it.

[Marina Scarr]

Can't beat this kind of action, David. It must be tough living near such a spectacular NWR. Agree with more space but what's more important is that you captured this behavior/action which includes ALL of the environment also. Artie's repost has helped to tone down the highlights.

Congratulations on this one.

[James Yule]

Very cool, ya know if it was my image I would of cropped it equally all the way around but I like nice tight photos. To each his own i guess. I do like it as it is just fine.

[David Stephens]

It's a great action shot to start with and Art's exposure changes are a big plus.

I love the strong diagonal of the birds and I'm not bothered by the space on the sides being small. I might actually take a little off the top to balance that tightness. Still, the image is so strong that it'd be hard to screw it up.

Dave

[Stu Bowie]

Excellent action David, and I like how you have captured their lovely large wings. I agree, a little more space on the left would work.

[arash_hazeghi]

Amazing interaction captured David and great job fitting two in a single frame. lovely sharpness and details, congrats

[Hendri Venter]

Fantastic interaction woth both birds perfectly sharp. Outstanding image David.

[Doug Brown]

Increible interaction! It's nice to get good eye contact with both subjects, and it doesn't very often happen. I wish we could see a bit more of the bird's foot, but that's nit-picking on my part. I prefer Artie's repost, and do wish for a bit more room for the birds in the frame. The BG could stand some NR; it looks kind of funny in the LLC. All in all a great image David!

[david cramer]

Thanks for the helpful feedback, everyone. Artie - I like the contrast in the repost, although the bg lost some saturation, which is an easy fix. I have room in the raw file to add to the left. The feedback about the feet is not one I had thought of, and I'll work up another image from this series that shows both birds legs/feet.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW David, I think that I may have grayed out the underwing highlight detail a bit too much. Could and should have used at least a 50% eraser there. I look forward to seeing more. Great that you had the 300 in hand. When the fight began, were you holding it or was it on your shoulder on a strap?

[david cramer]

At second crane pool, I was shooting with 500 mounted on tripod and 300 over shoulder. Birds taking off north to south, with very little wind. Noticed the far cranes had began to march away, facing northeast, and much closer to the road. Had taken plenty of flight shots so left tripod (with friends) and slowly walked north, backing off quite a bit to keep distance with the birds. That placed me lower in the dip between the berm and road, but almost at eye level with the birds. Fortunately for me, after a minute or two these two began trumpeting, which I knew might lead to some good action, and it did. The problem was that each had a bird behind them. Also notice the coyote on the far shore. As they went into action, their leaps took them up over the other birds, who quickly started moving away. I choose the initial post because the birds were up over the shoreline and wings are fully extended. For comparison, I'll work up a couple more where feet are showing, but wings aren't extended fully and shoreline is through them. I'd be very interested in reactions.

D300 wih 300 2.8vr hand held, f/8, 1/1250, iso 400, ev -0.67 unprocessed raw file

[david cramer]

Next and second shot, in a total of 20 shots, the fight begins.

Same techs as above.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Seeing these additional photos I definitely think the original post could use more room left and right (a centered comp would work fine with the birds facing each other). Put together these images make a great behaviour series!

[Callie de Wet]

Like the altercations. The red caps are very prominent and draws the eye right into the action!

[david cramer]

This is probably the best image from the series for overall feet/wings/beaks/eyes in view. I had to quick mask/clone out two birds (I can tell those areas can use a lot more touching up - but posting this for comparison with original post). Is the horizon a problem? How is the spacing and contrast on this one? Would this one be preferred over the original post? TIA.

D300 with 300 2.8vr, hand held, f/8, 1/1600, iso 400, ev -0.67

[david cramer]

Original raw unprocessed.

[Callie de Wet]

I actually prefer the original, posted last. That does not mean the cropped and clean versions are not great. One tends to zoom in on the action, and yes, it is wonderful, but sometimes we miss the diamond right in front of us!

[Daniel Cadieux]

David, the original raw uncropped has the best scene of them all!! I would not crop any of the two birds milling around the fighting ones. It just needs whatever contrast/levels/saturation adjustments you did to the frame in pane #19 (and the whites tamed down a bit more), and then you have a real winner IMO!!

[James Salywoda]

Really some nice shots and PS work David great interaction captured.

[arash_hazeghi]

Dave,
I love #19 and #20, both are peak behavioral shots, it looks very nice even with the twp extra cranes! All super. TFS

[Harshad Barve]

David
Everything said above and another vote for original uncropped RAW ,
TFS this excellent image

[david cramer]

Thanks for all the helpful feedback. It's part of what makes BPN a great place. Here's the image I've settled on... for now. More room around the birds, left in one of the other cranes as it adds balance and shows behavior, didn't feel the fourth crane added anything so left it out.

[Arthur Morris]

Love em all. The eye of the left hand fighting bird in the OP is much sharper than the eye of the bird in the pane above.