Blue Crane

[Ken Watkins]

Taken yesterday at what initially appears to be a nest sight, I will not reveal the location as this is still a critically endangered bird.

Difficult lighting conditions.

EOS 1D MkIII

28-300mm hand held on foot

F5.6, ISO 800, 1/200

[Kiran Poonacha]

WOW, this is one beautiful looking bird... TFS... hope they survive. About not giving out the location, A thumps up from me :)

the pose looks good with a nice HA and the raised foot adds well, but looks a bit flat, do some PS magic on it.

Regards,

Kiran

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks Kiran, numbers have increased very well in recent years, especially in the area around where I live, but normally you cannot get very close. I was in dense and wet bushes and it was very cold, well that's my excuse.

I did my best in PS, the RAW was really bad, I hope to find them again in better light.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I don't remember seeing many images of this species. I might sharpen the bird more and hope that they won't be disturbed at their nesting site.

[Kiran Poonacha]

Sure you will find them in good light, keep the great work coming.

Best wishes,

Kiran

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Ken, there are two resident blue cranes at Austin Roberts bird sanctuary in Pretoria. They are not always around near the hide, but next time I see them, will try and get some images of them. Is this in KZN where you live?

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks for your comments and encouragement. I'll be looking again in the morning.

Axel,
The main problem I have is high noise which only gets worse with more sharpening.

[Stephen Stephen]

Ken interesting looking bird I've not seen photos of before. I like the raised foot.

Did you try to capture any images with a lower ISO and shutter speed say 640 and 1/120?

[Fabs Forns]

Very interesting bird, I'd sharpen him and tone down the rocks. Hope they succeed in their nesting intent.

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Ken, I've only seen this bird once before, at Etosha, and your image here reminded of that wonderful holiday. I love the raised, muddy foot and the included habitat. Hope you have more chances with this one; would love to see the chicks. In your honor, I'm posting my Etosha image today.

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions, still dark here but I will be going out soon.:)

Katie

Your post is superb.