Happy Bird

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Happy Bird

Jan. 5, 2015, my first shoot of the new year at the Ridgefield NWR, my brother and I were discussing whether we should go get lunch since the fog was so thick–even in early afternoon.  I’m guessing visibility was 200-300 feet at the most.  I had been there since 8 a.m. with no change in the fog situation so we headed back toward the main parking lot.  As we approached one of the sharp corners of the gravel road, in front of us was a group of Sandhill Cranes (50-75?) out in the field about 150 feet away.  This is pretty close for Ridgefield, as these cranes rarely allow you to get closer than 200 feet, even in a vehicle.  Maybe the heavy fog camouflaged us a little–we could barely see the birds through the fog.  Anyway, we both shot from our driver’s side windows until the birds stopped their ‘dancing.’  I would have liked to have had the full frame 5DM3 body on the lens at the time so I could have gotten more birds in the frame at the same time, giving me more poses to choose from, but I had to go with the 7DM2 or miss the action completely.  Most of the fog in front of the birds has been removed in Photoshop and its various plugins.  (The fog never did lift all day).

Canon 7D Mark II, 1/1000, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm, 1:10 p.m. (foggy conditions)

LARGER VIEW

Jan. 5, 2015, my first shoot of the new year at the Ridgefield NWR, my brother and I were discussing whether we should go get lunch since the fog was so thick–even in early afternoon.  I’m guessing visibility was 200-300 feet at the most.  I had been there since 8 a.m. with no change in the fog situation so we headed back toward the main parking lot.  As we approached one of the sharp corners of the gravel road, in front of us was a group of Sandhill Cranes (50-75?) out in the field about 150 feet away.  This is pretty close for Ridgefield, as these cranes rarely allow you to get closer than 200 feet, even in a vehicle.  Maybe the heavy fog camouflaged us a little–we could barely see the birds through the fog.  Anyway, we both shot from our driver’s side windows until the birds stopped their ‘dancing.’  I would have liked to have had the full frame 5DM3 body on the lens at the time so I could have gotten more birds in the frame at the same time, giving me more poses to choose from, but I had to go with the 7DM2 or miss the action completely.  Most of the fog in front of the birds has been removed in Photoshop and its various plugins.  (The fog never did lift all day).

Canon 7D Mark II, 1/1000, f4, ISO 1250, 500mm, 1:10 p.m. (foggy conditions)

LARGER VIEW

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My Gear:

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV & Grip
  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Canon EF 500mm f4L IS II
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f4L
  • Canon EF 50mm f1.8
  • Canon 1.4X III Extender
  • Canon 2x III Extender
  • Canon 580EX Flash
  • Zoom H1 Recorder
  • Better Beamer
  • Manfrotto tripod/monopod
  • Manfrotto Gimbal Head
  • Sandisk Compact Flash Cards
  • The Molar Bean Bag by Vertex
  • Joby Gorillapod Focus & Ballhead
  • Canon EG200 Backpack
  • Storm Jacket Camera Cover
  • Kinesis Safari Sack
  • Original Bug Shirt Elite Edition

Software:

  • Adobe Photoshop CC
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic
  • Nik Color EFEX Pro 4
  • Nik Sharpener 3
  • Nik Dfine 2.0
  • Nik Viveza 2
  • Nik HDR Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
  • Nik Analog Efex Pro