I photographed the Sandhill crane shown above in Florida this month. My settings: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 800, 1/1000 sec at f/6.3. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
The bird was walking around with a few other cranes feeding on bugs and such on the dirt and grass. As it came up to look around before feeding again, I was waiting patiently to capture the shot. Then the bird looked up (probably at a bird), I took the shot. I like the curious pose and the sharp eye. The bill has sand and dirt and I didn’t feel the need to clean it in post as it is exactly as I saw it. I loved the background color showing through the nares (the nostrils), sometimes when cranes are digging their nares get clogged with sand and dirt. I was also lucky that the background that showed in the image was of the grass and not the sandy dirt portion of the ground.
Two of my favorite birds in Florida are cranes and spoonbills so I have been spending my time with them. I’ve had lots of morning fog and several missed photo shoots. Hoping for a good last couple of days. They are calling for rain tomorrow???
For the Roseate Spoonbill shown above my settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 800, 1/1600 sec at f/6.3. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
I laughed so hard when I saw this bird trying to drag and then carry this huge branch back to the nest. It did the usual shake test before flight then decided it might be a bit ambitious. Its gleeful expression was adorable.
I shot some high-key spoonbills on one of the mornings as the background was a bit foggy and dull. Opening up my exposure allowed me to create the look. My settings for this shot were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 3200, 1/800 sec at f/6.3. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
Coming in hard! It was great fun to try to capture these birds coming in looking for nesting material. We ran into quite a bit of fog in the early mornings-some of which killed the entire morning shoot, other times the fog lifted just as the morning ended…ugh. This was the tail end of the fog on one of our morning outings. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 640, 1/1250 sec at f/6.3. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
In-coming….this was my last shot of the one morning once the fog rolled out. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 400, 1/2000 sec at f/7.1. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
I liked this one because of the way the stick hung down in a curved fashion. Some of the sticks that the birds got a hold of were big and grungy-this one seemed so dainty in comparison. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 400, 1/1600 sec at f/7.1. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
I have to say that I have truly enjoyed shooting with the Sony 200-600mm lens. I was able to handhold most of my shots—I never once felt like I missed a shot using the a9. Not having to lug my Canon 600mm lens saved lots of room in my gear bag-and saved my shoulder a bit too!
The above image is a creative blur captured in-camera then enhanced using Photoshop and multiple layers. It was just for fun and I enjoyed the play!
The light was getting harsh so I decided to try a side-lit shot. I liked that the background bushes were in the shade and created a black backdrop for my crane portrait. This is pretty much straight-out-of-camera with a tiny crop. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 400, 1/400 sec at f/8. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
I liked the innocent look of the juvi spoonbill above. Because it was young and soft I didn’t want to add a lot of contrast. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 400, 1/640 sec at f/6.3. manual mode, natural light, handheld.
The above shot may be a bit too tight on the bottom as it does not allow for virtual feet but I loved the nest-like look at the bottom anyway. My settings were: Sony a9, Sony 200-600mm lens @ ISO 400, 1/1000 sec at f/7.1. manual mode, natural light, handheld.