A900 70-400mm G, Sand Hill Cranes are Back (Spring Is Coming)

[Willy81]

I live northwest of Ann Arbor, Michigan and went for a ride today and to my surprise I came across Sand Hill Cranes in four different fields (I think these things stand about five feet tall - they are big and fun to watch). I guess this is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner. The Sand Hills really put on a show for me.

Lucky I had my A900 and 70-400mm G with me. Although it was a dull / dark day so I was concerned about what settings to start with but I think it worked out fine. All photos are at ISO 400, 1/500 sec, f/7.1, RAW and handheld and post processed in PS CS4 and converted to jpg.

 

[dennismullen]

Hi William,

Nice series!

I'm looking forward to photographing the spring migration.

Cheers,
--

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Ben Franklin.
You can see larger versions of my pictures at http://www.dennismullen.com .

 

[Graham Best]

Hey William,

Your waterfowl shots posted yesterday were great, and these are fantastic. They have a real 3 dimensional quality to them. Love the colors.

--
Regards,
Graham

'I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.' -Garry Winogrand

 

[Neil V]

Fantastic photos! The colour/contrast is real treat for the eyes. Thanks for sharing.

--
Neil
http://gallery.thewarmland.com/

 

[Danny Williams]

I love the photos, and it's great to see the birds have arrived in your area. These birds spend the winter with us here in Southeast TN, and leave here every year the first week of March and head back north. It's always nice to see them photographed on their journey back to the nesting grounds. You should be seeing lots more over the next few days. Have fun with them.

 

[ianimal]

Nice pictures.
Would be nice with a small video also maybe, some sounds and see the
live dance

So this scene is one example of why I mean video mode can be a usefull feature.
I believe many people would love to see some motions also.
Auto focus is not a problem here, so video from a DSLR should work ok I believe.

It is soon spring here in Norway where I live also.
And soon the birds starts to "dance" here also.
Lovely time it is

 

[Riker D]

This is the best I could with my A700 and Sigma fixed 400 5.6 APO macro tele. The birds landed across the street where I live in a soy bean field last Sept. The came in everyday for 3 days. At first I thought they were Canadian geese. The day before this they brought in two of there offspring. I wish I had gotten that shot but was two busy with other things at the time. My guess is that they were about 450ft away. I wish I could have gotten closer. I live in mid Michigan in Hillsdale Co. of M99.



--
Photo eye

 

[Willy81]

To all three of you thanks for the kind comments. I always enjoy the first of these big birds when they arrive. It seems that I'm not quite ready but very excited to photograph them. Actually it was somewhat dull out today but I was able to brighten and add some snap in PS CS4 RAW post processing. I have found after my initial adjustments and color correction I can slide the black up a little and the readjust the exposure to add depth and color richness.

Again Thanks For Comments.

 

[steelhead3]

Great pictures. I went to Summer Lake wildlife area in Oregon over the weekend to witness the many species of geese moving through by tens of thousands. Their were hundreds of Sandhills moving into the area and the noise was something else. Your pictures were better than anything I got.

 

[Willy81]

This is the best I could with my A700 and Sigma fixed 400 5.6 APO macro tele. The birds landed across the street where I live in a soy bean field last Sept. The came in everyday for 3 days. At first I thought they were Canadian geese. The day before this they brought in two of there offspring. I wish I had gotten that shot but was two busy with other things at the time. My guess is that they were about 450ft away. I wish I could have gotten closer. I live in mid Michigan in Hillsdale Co. of M99.

Hi Riker, actually I bet the birds were further away than you thought. I would have expected a 400mm lens on the A700 to pulled them in a bit more. My lens was 400mm on a full frame and I would guess I was at least 300 feet away (I did crop but not all that much).

If you watch for them again this year maybe you can get a closer shot. Over here in my area there is a large park where several spend the summer and by the end of the season they get comfortable with people getting to within 10-15 feet. I prefer a greater distance and then to catch them on takeoff or landing.

Hope you can catch more Sand Hills this year. Thanks for viewing and sharing your image.

 

[AarSee]

Bill,
Those are some great shots.

But you are really messing things up around here
by posting nice pictures without making some type of critical comment
about your A900. It is a wonder you were able to capture
a single photo with your outdated equipment.

Shoot me an e-mail about getting down there to capture
the cranes nesting.

Nice series of action shots.

RC

--
Rick

Veni, Vidi, Velcro!
'I came; I saw; I stuck around.'

 

[Riker D]

Hi William. I think these were on the fly heading south for the winter but I am not sure. Maybe my guesstament was off.
--
Photo eye

 

[VDG]

Excellent series, thanks for sharing..

 

[Riker D]

I am going to send you an email.
--
Photo eye

 

[mzd]

Great looking pictures !

 

[Stv]

Wonderful captures !

--
Talk much less, take more pictures.

http://stv.smugmug.com/

 

[Willy81]

Bill,
Those are some great shots.

But you are really messing things up around here
by posting nice pictures without making some type of critical comment
about your A900. It is a wonder you were able to capture
a single photo with your outdated equipment.

Shoot me an e-mail about getting down there to capture
the cranes nesting.

Hi Rick, actually we were out for a drive to see if the Great Blue Herons had arrived yet. I counted forty eight nest in that small confined area and not a single GBH here yet. I expect they will start arriving in the next couple weeks. Yeah, if you are up to it let's get Fred with his 600mm f/4 (I came very close to buying one of those relics - like new) and take some fun photos. I will send you an email.

PS, my antique / relic of a camera (A900) is a much better camera than this relic of a photographer. One more thing, there're no pretty girls running around in those muddy farm fields (I bet George would say "What the heck").

 

[fsw]

I've never seen anything like these fine-feathered giants. What a treat! What a fortuitous day. And you captured them well.

The 70-400 is awfully tempting. Thanks for sharing an awesome moment.

fsw

 

[Ron Co]

Your sand crane looks very much like our Brolga or Native Companion also known as Dancing Crane I think - any idea if they are related or the same - lovely birds and great pics

we had one living in our back yard of the school at Mataranka in the Northern Territory way back in the early 60's (1963-64) scared the dickens out of the little kids with its size and cheeky nature -also scared the railway fettlers (men who repair the tracks) when it used to swoop down on them as they travelled the rail on their open quad cars

fond memories of long ago

--
Ron Co
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ron-alenka/

 

[Willy81]

I've never seen anything like these fine-feathered giants. What a treat! What a fortuitous day. And you captured them well.

The 70-400 is awfully tempting. Thanks for sharing an awesome moment.

fsw, it was equally a treat watching their antics and shooting these big birds.

As far as the 70-400mm G goes, it's trully one of my favorits (would not be w/o it). My most used lenses go in this order:
1) 24-70mm f/2.8 CZ
2) 70-400mm G
3) 70-200mm f/2.8 G

Followed by sometimes special needs:
4) 20mm f/2.8
5) 16mm f/2.8
6) 100mm f/2.8 macro
7) 100mm f/2.0

Other Lenses are in my cases but rarely used.

The 70-400mm G is a big lens and heavy (because of it's size and range). I have always used heaver than most equipment so the weight is no bother for me. I also find it focuses exceptionally well for me (some on this forum have complained about the focus speed so I guess there must be better - but it's the best I have ever used in the range). I use the 70-400mm for outside stuff (i.e. sports, auto racing, wild life, distant scenes, etc.). By all means it is my second most used and a favorite lens.

Thanks for viewing and comments.