Sandhill Close-Up


Things have lightened up and have been able to get out. Hopefully, I’ll be able to spend more time with everyone. This sandhill was at around 6 feet away from me. I cropped about 60% off of the original image and arranged the crop to position the eye in the upper third portion of the image. I ran levels, Topaz DeNoise, and Topaz Clarity. D500, 200-400 f4, 1/125 sec at f8.0, Iso 400, Fill Flash at -2.0 ev. Sandhill cranes at this park are wild, but habituated to humans and they follow you around picking off insects that have been dislodged from the vegetation. It is a Galapagos experience in Southeast Michigan. Thank you for looking…Jim

What technical feedback would you like if any? Processing look OK?

What artistic feedback would you like if any? I like the diagonals in the colors. Do they work for you?

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Good to see you posting again, Jim. Don’t think I’ve ever seen such a closeup Sandhill portrait. The details around that eye and the red patch are incredible! And excellent job capturing while it wasn’t moving around.

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It is good to see you posting again, Jim. Such a great close-up personal image of this Sandhill. I like the way you composed your crop.

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Very impressive color and detail. Must’ve been fun getting that close. The eye is really fantastic. I think it might be even better without the catch light. You might want it even consider an alternative crop closer and putting the eye in the upper left third. At iso-400 I bet you could do this.

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I love the detailed look at the eye, Jim. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in quite that level of detail before and it’s very interesting. The processing looks fine as does the composition.

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Awesome closeup of a sandhill crane. The eye looks fantastic. Excellent job making sure the in focussing - I can imagine keeping the point locked on the eye would be a big challenge with a moving subject.

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Debugged by cranes?, I’m in. Like your image, the flash is what makes it pop I guess. Good your here. TY

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Love it. Agree with previous comments; excellent work.

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Amazing detail in this wonderful close-up ! Love it ! Cheers, Hans

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That’s a very cool close up Jim, amazing detail!

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Thank you for the comments, critiques and for the Editor’s Pick. …Jim