Cranes in Flight

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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Image:

Description: I focused in on a small group of Sandhill Cranes as they lifted off and took to the air during an early evening in Central Washington State. I used a slower shutter speed and panned the camera at the same time, giving the viewer a sense of the frenetic motion of the birds.

Specific Feedback Requested: Just looking to get some feedback regarding what works with this image and what could possibly give it more impact.

Pertinent technical details or techniques: Canon 80D, f/5.6, 1/25 sec, ISO 640

Cranes in Flight
Cranes in Flight1659×972 281 KB

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Hi, Ted. I love the impressionist appearance you created with your image. On top of that, you have a minimalist color spectrum throughout the entire image. Motion is clearly present. Even that apparent line running across the middle of the frame adds to the beauty and motion. I’m not sure, for example, that having one or a few cranes in focus would improve the visual impact of the scene. A higher shutter speed might have accomplished that.

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Thank you Egidio for your feedback. My initial intent when taking this photograph was to have the cranes all in sharp focus. But it was early evening and the light was low. I was shooting in aperture priority, and the camera chose a slow enough shutter speed to render the birds like you see in the image. At first I was unhappy with the result, but I grew to like it more over time as I believe it gives the viewer more of a sense of motion of the cranes.

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Ted, this is a very interesting and attractive photo of the cranes, like a mob moving as one. The feeling of motion is apparent and it begs to be studied due to its OOF nature. The minimal color palate adds to the urgency of the scene.

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Thanks Jim. I’m glad you are feeling the motion of the birds. I believe that the image does achieve that objective and it fits nicely into this week’s challenge theme.

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Hi Ted,

I like the motion and impressionist feel in your photo. The lighting is very nice and I love the mood the photo portrays. It gives the feeling of it being cold, winter like.

I recently took my first trip to photograph migratory birds and I’m not sure if it’s going to be my thing. I have nothing but admiration for the patience bird photographers have.

Can you share your lens and focal length? Also, can you tells us the white balance temperature you used in post? I think you nailed the WB, but I can see where a different WB would change the mood of this photo.

Thanks

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Hello David-
I used a 70-300mm zoom lens for this image at 300mm focal length. I now carry both a 100-400mm and 150-600mm lens for my bird photography. The white balance temperature for this image after post processing was at 6950. I just settle on something that makes the image look right to me, but of course that is a personal choice each photographer has to make. Hope this helps.

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