My image of the month column showcases some of the new photos I've taken during recent travels, as well as some unique situations that I have captured throughout the years. At times I may include a short story which I feel may be of some interest. Enjoy!

Snow Goose Takeoff & Sandhill Crane Landing ...Read the story below.

December 2006 Bosque del Apache

Bosque del Apache, NWR in New Mexico is a place I've visited many times and it always lures me to return. It offers amazing non-stop photographic opportunities of the wintering Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese.

I'm always reluctant to visit Bosque, I have filled my files with so many images of these beautiful birds that at one time my staff actually threatened me if I ever visited there again. But then I received an invitation from Debbie Ferrell who has a wildlife photography website called PhotoMigrations.com. I reconsidered as I needed to get out of the office and get into the field (so what else is new?). She said that a group of photographers who are members of the site would be visiting Bosque in early November. I decided it was time to have some fun and socialize with friends as well. I called some of my local buddies to join us and it didn't take them too long to say "let's go" and we all met at the refuge. Everyone knew this was a place for great photography and lots of fun.

I'm always looking for new and different images, especially from this area, because I have so many of the same images from the past. One of my intentions on this jaunt also was to test higher ISO's (same as film speed) in my digital camera.

My first day of warm up photography was shooting some of the birds in flight. This is where I put my digital camera to the test and used higher ISO's. It allowed me to achieve greater depth of field and it worked out well. My shots of two Snow Geese or Sandhill Cranes flying in tandem turned out excellent because I was able to get both birds in focus while shooting at ISO 400 at an F stop of F/11. My normal shooting of this scenario would be ISO 200 at F/4 so I can stop the action of flight; inevitably the bird that was in back of the one I focused on would be out of focus because of the shallow depth of field that is inherent in a 600mm lens. Although I was impressed with the results and both birds were tack sharp I felt there was a little too much noise showing up in the background for my taste. I might use ISO 400 for flight photography but I'll stick to 200 for everything else except landscapes which I shoot at ISO 100 to keep noise to a much lower level for a higher quality image.

One beautiful, balmy early afternoon at one of the ponds, we were all standing around shooting, telling stories and jokes with thousands of snow geese sitting in the water right in front of us; some were no more than 20 feet away. We were all trying to isolate the birds as they were preening, flapping their wings and bathing. It was just about impossible because the flock was so tightly formed.

As the hours passed small groups of snow geese started flying out of the pond departing to the corn fields to feed. As they did it left some small openings where I could finally start isolating the birds. By this time many photographers left for the corn fields to capture more flight photos (believe me, it was tempting for me as well, but I was looking for something different and I saw what I wanted).

As the birds were flying out I visualized how nice it would be if I could capture one goose taking off with its wings up and the splashes of water it left behind. I knew this was going to be difficult because I would have to focus on the bird at the exact distance for my 600mm F/4 lens and make sure it would fit in my frame with its wings extended. There were many flocks taking off, but I didn't have much to choose from where the light was directly behind me at the ideal distance so the bird and its wings would get perfect light on them when I started shooting. I would also hope the bird would be isolated from the rest of the flock when I started shooting so one bird would be the center of attraction in my frame.

From my experience, one of the most important things I knew I had to do was to be patient and watch the behavior of the other birds as they flew out. Observing their actions and patterns would give me an indication as to when these birds would take off. While I was watching their behavior, I focused on other birds at the same distance to make sure I would capture the full wing spread in my viewfinder. I also noticed that the ones that were ready to fly would start cackling with their heads up and then take off, but that would not happen all the time. Sometimes they would cackle with their heads up and still not take off. This is where two of my "Three P's of Wildlife photography" come into play: patience and persistence. The third P is passion, which is already evident. My patience and persistence in this situation could make or break the shot. So I dug in my heels and I waited and watched.

Finally the birds from the small flock I was hoping to photograph started flying out a couple at a time and I had one goose lined up for the shot. I was focused on one closer to the vegetation to add a sense of place to my image. It started lifting its head and cackling and I pressed the shutter anticipating a take off. I took three consecutive shots of the 8 frame per second burst that my camera can give, but the goose did not lift off. This is where I had to be fast and I could not take my eye off the bird for one second because the action might happen at any moment and I could miss the shot. My concentration and patience at this time had to be unwavering. I focused on the bird with my auto focus sensor set at the left hand side in my viewfinder knowing the bird would fly to the right. Choosing this sensor position would produce a better composition allowing the bird room to move to the right where it was flying.

About ten minutes later it happened again and this time I nailed the shot! The vegetation, the wings fully extended, and the splashes of water all came together to create a fantastic image. The splashes of water in front of the bird were produced from another goose taking off at the same time which added a little more action to the photo. I captured a series of shots from this burst of photos but I like this one the best. I love it when a plan comes together because this photo could have easily been missed for many reasons beyond my control and that happens more than I would like to admit.

The photo of the Sandhill Crane with the wings spread open was much easier to capture with some luck involved. I noticed the geese and cranes were landing closer to the road about 150 feet to the left of where I was shooting at the cornfields. I ran over with my gear and the wind turned from behind me which made perfect conditions for birds landing with their wings spread. When the wind and sun are behind you it's the best time to photograph birds in flight. Birds almost always land into the wind because it slows them down for an easier landing. I focused on this crane way before this last shot because he was coming right at me. I shot about ten frames as this bird was landing with the wings in different positions but this was my favorite.

We all had a great time viewing our photos during and after dinner that we took throughout the day and we came back with some superb images. I know I'm going to be chastised by my staff for getting more images of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese but hey, now I have them on digital capture instead of film. I'll use any excuse to visit Bosque del Apache again. Now, what will my next one be?

Photo Tip

Patience and persistence pays off if you watch the behavior of the animal you are photographing and stay with it to capture a unique image. Lots of times an animal will repeat the same performance and if you wait you will often be rewarded.

Equipment Used:

Canon 600mm F/4 lens with a Canon Mark II 1Dn camera. A Gitzo carbon Fiber tripod with the new Wimberly head. Both photos taken at ISO 400 at F/4.

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