Sheldon Wecker, QPSA
October 2026 - Untitled
Original
About the Image(s)
This photo was taken at Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge. Edited in Lightroom Classic and Silver Efex Pro. 1/80 sec at f/9.0, iso 3200, 600mm at 7AM. It was winter, and it was cold. There were bits of ice floating in the water. The Sandhill Cranes were just waking up.
3 comments posted
Hi Sheldon: A very good story telling nature image showing the Sandhill Cranes in a tight flock
The close in birds are very sharp and show very good feather details. As is the case with a 600mm telephone lens with its natural shallow depth of field the sharpness falls off quickly in the distance. However we can still see many birds in the background. This was a very large flock of these cranes that had gathered together over night.
The monochrome conversion certainly looks good to me. I also like the color original, as it seems to portray the cold weather conditions well. Posted: 10/08/2026 04:36:36
The close in birds are very sharp and show very good feather details. As is the case with a 600mm telephone lens with its natural shallow depth of field the sharpness falls off quickly in the distance. However we can still see many birds in the background. This was a very large flock of these cranes that had gathered together over night.
The monochrome conversion certainly looks good to me. I also like the color original, as it seems to portray the cold weather conditions well. Posted: 10/08/2026 04:36:36
Sheldon,
Good choice for black and white as the original is largely monochromatic to begin with. As Murphy mentioned, the feather detail in the foreground birds is excellent. You chose a great moment with the crane on the left looking to its left and the one on the right looking to its right. It feels as cold as it probably was that morning. Posted: 10/14/2026 16:36:14
Good choice for black and white as the original is largely monochromatic to begin with. As Murphy mentioned, the feather detail in the foreground birds is excellent. You chose a great moment with the crane on the left looking to its left and the one on the right looking to its right. It feels as cold as it probably was that morning. Posted: 10/14/2026 16:36:14
Sheldon:I think the soft lighting on the birds works well for this image. The image has nice tonality and contrast. I think I would crop much of the top off the image since much is out of focus and doesn't add to the image. Posted: 10/14/2026 16:41:28