Title - "Sandhill Crane"

COMMENTS:
 

Bailey Donnally	This photograph is gorgeous.  I wouldn’t change a thing.  The bird is caught with its wings in an excellent position.  The lighting allows us to see detail all over the bird.  The colors in the background are picked up by the colors in the bird to give an extraordinary color harmony.  The placement of the bird, with a bit more space in front than in the back, is ideal.  The background is just the right amount out of focus.  Graham has shown us with this great picture just how valuable the high ISO capabilities of modern cameras can be, and he has demonstrated his great skill in exploiting these capabilities.
Fred Dueren	This is a beautiful photo, sharp and colorful. You can almost see the determination on the crane's face. It encourages me to keep trying to get a good stop-action photo of the hummingbirds. Not a single negative from me.
Bob Jump	This is an excellent picture of a flying bird. There is so much to like about this image. The out of focus colorful background works well. The bird is sharp and is wonderfully posed. I understand your need to take a lot of pictures to get one good one. I know that a lot of luck is sometimes necessary. However, without taking the patience to shoot a lot of images, you would have a lot less luck.
Ingrid Borecki	Great capture Graham – it is a mystery to me how folks can capture birds (especially in flight!) with such focus and detail. You / they are heroes!  J  I find it interesting to study the bird’s form during flight, too.  You harnessed the power of all your tools to good effect and got a great shot!  (What’s a Wimbley?  Can you share RE: Topaz plugins?)
David Temple	Technically perfect with the flying bird in sharp focus and good exposure.  The color palette is pleasing to the eye and I like the blurred background and how it singles out the crane.
Douglas Hart	Having tried to capture birds in flight a few times, and failed so many, many times, I applaud the success of any and everyone who accomplishes it.  My box theme this month:  I have learned that any comments or critique of sharpness is NOT fair for any photograph on our site given the low resolution and venue of the web site so unless it is an obvious situation, so I hereby declare that general sharpness is implied and accepted unless the outcome is in obvious need of corrective lens.   Colors, capture of flight and position of wings, attention to head and eyes, blurred background, all aspects of a stellar outcome.  Tighter cropping is always a consideration when such a stunning subject is present, but that is a matter of personal taste.

Member Bio

Graham Budd - Biography Retired a year ago and now finding time to pursue varied interests of which photography is one. I also enjoy cycling, golf, guitar, astronomy and travel. My favorite subjects are wildlife and landscapes and I would like to try my hand at astrophotography one day soon. I use all Canon equipment including a wide variety of lenses up to a 500 f4. For wildlife, I mostly rely on a 1D3 and my 5D sees most of the landscape work. Lightroom has become the program of choice for post processing but I am beginning to explore CS4 as well.