![\"Pair](\"http:\/\/www.larryditto.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Whooping-Cranes_IMG_4880.jpg\")
<\/a>These cranes were photographed from a ground blind near Goose Island State Park.\u00a0 I was pleased with the similar pose between the birds.\u00a0 Since I wasn’t using a “high end” camera, I didn’t dare push the ISO enough to get sufficient depth of field\u00a0get both birds in sharp focus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bird\u00a0in\u00a0the image below\u00a0had a deformed beak but it managed just fine at feeding time.\u00a0 I’ve seen several at Bosque del Apache Refuge in New Mexico with an upper\u00a0mandible curving down over the lower mandible like a crossbill.<\/p>\n With birds in flight, I try to maintain at least 1\/2000 second shutter speed to insure the photo “freezes” the birds.<\/p>\n We often see a good variety of photo subjects during the return trip from a whooping crane outing.\u00a0 Although the light is sometimes a little harsh, who can resist a long-billed curlew profile.<\/p>\n A bird in flight under white skies often needs to be overexposed by 2-3 stops to get the bird’s undersides and darker areas at proper exposure.<\/p>\n I decided to try the image above as a black and white and was quite pleased.\u00a0\u00a0Seeing the\u00a0calm waters as we left a nearby restaurant, two of the\u00a0group’s photographers convinced me we should return for some night shooting.\u00a0 This photo was captured at 10:30 PM.<\/p>\n By watching the nervous head bobbing and erect posture of a wild\u00a0duck, it can be easy to anticipate\u00a0“launch”.\u00a0 I have to remember to pull back on the telephoto power to leave room for the rising bird and outstretched wings.<\/p>\n One of our photographers photographed this bittern while it was catching anoles on tree trunks at the edge of a marsh.<\/p>\n It was a great week in Rockport and Port Aransas.<\/p>\n Larry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two weeks ago, I was in Rockport leading a “whooping crane” photography tour that turned out to be much more than that.\u00a0 After starting the week with a lot of cold and drizzle, our last day and a half were fair days with a lot of photography ops. The group was composed of seasoned veteran … Continue reading More Than Just a Whooping Crane Photo Tour<\/span> <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>