Not really sure if the Texas coast is Southeast or Southwest, but I picked Southeast as its damp instead of dry. Another from my 2017 trip. I stayed in a private RV park near Goose Island State Park and there’s a nearby field where a group of Whooping Cranes hang out (at least they did then). Some of the locals feed them and predictably some others don’t like them, particularly since they attract rude tourists and photographers who stop in the middle of their roads or park partially blocking their roads rather than walk a few hundred yards. However, it’s the best, most reliable place to find these birds at reasonable range. I wasn’t really going there for the cranes, but I timed my visit so I thought I had a chance of seeing them before they headed north. It turned out I had one evening with them and they were gone.
It seems like the adults shouldn’t still be feeding a youngster that’s just shy of a year old, but that’s what happened here. Unfortunately, I missed the actual handoff, but I liked the implication in this image.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I dodged the shadowed part of the youngster a fair amount, cloned over some darker out of focus weed clumps that were in inconvenient places for the composition, and added a touch of canvas on the right. If it looks like I botched any of those, please let me know.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Given the uninteresting and out of focus foreground and the poses of the birds, I decided a pano would work best for this image. I’d appreciate any reactions to that decision.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 600 mm, I can’t remember what support I used, f/7.1, 1/2500, iso 640, manual exposure. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped (with added canvas on right) to 5622x2802 pixels. Plumage detail enhanced with Topaz Detail 3. Taken at 5:58 pm on March 24th, 2017.