December is the time of year when we start thinking about travel plans for the next year. The crane migration is usually the trip that kicks off our photography adventures for the year. We are hoping to get a seat in a blind in 2022 to allow us to get closer to the cranes.

This conversation sparked the review of old trip photos and this blog post. Enjoy the information about cranes and the meh, bad & ugly of my photos!

It is now our tradition, every March, to hop in the Jeep and make the drive across interstate 80, from Denver to Kearney, Nebraska to spend a long weekend experiencing the sandhill crane migration. We started going to Nebraska with Josh’s friend Brad a few years ago, simply because this is one really cool natural event. Brad lives in Omaha and has been driving the few hours out to photograph the migration for a very long time. These birds have been endangered and are amazing to see and hear. They also present a challenge to us as photographers, more on this later.

Sandhill cranes migrate through Nebraska every spring on their way to Canadian breeding grounds. Around 650,000 birds make a pit stop for a few weeks outside of Kearney to feast on the leftover corn in the fields and rest on the Platte River. This annual event draws large crowds of people to the area. Thousands of birds can be seen from viewing areas, blinds, and even the side of the road. It is very fascinating to watch their eating and sleeping behaviors, as well as, the start of mating dances. Once it starts to get cold enough in Canada the cranes head south to winter in Texas and a preserve in southern New Mexico (we visited there in December 2020), they are in a hurry to get to the winter grounds and take a more direct path in October, November not stopping much on the way.

The cranes aren’t endangered but they are quite rare, especially the varieties from the east and southern US. They are facing more competition for food and resources from snow geese, hunting and habitat destruction. Despite this they are doing well and have been found to have increased their breeding grounds. Some of the lesser species are improving due to captive breeding and adding to the flocks. The Nebraska flyway is the most important space for these birds survival. As a point of pride, Nebraska is the only state that hunting them is illegal.

Whooping cranes, on the other hand, are in serious peril. At one time conservationists tried having sandhill cranes raise whoopers, unfortunately the whooping cranes imprint with the sandhills and don’t go back to their flocks. Every now and again we will see a whooping crane in with the sandhill flocks. It’s a sight to behold, though very sad because they can’t mate and that’s one less whooping crane that will reproduce.

First and foremost, I am not a wildlife photographer. Mostly, that means that I haven’t practiced at it and I really don’t have the patience required. Most of the photos below have not been edited, and are here as an example of what really happens over a weekend, and 1800 images.

Technically speaking, moving things require much faster shutter speeds to ensure a sharp/in focus image. Often, a much higher ISO is required to allow for a shutter speed fast enough to capture a bird in flight. The downside to upping your ISO is that you get noisy photos. Check out the backgrounds of these next two (and probably all of them.) To get the cleanest shots you really need to have brighter light, but the landscape junky in me would really prefer sunrise and sunset light which is usually a slower shutter speed time of day.

Taking a picture of a bird flying overhead, with a really long lens, is not an easy task. Think using binoculars and how it takes some time to find your subject, compounded by said subject moving!

When I see a really great photo I have the utmost respect for the photographer. Reviewing our trip from last year, I had roughly 1800 images and was not happy with even one of them. This photo is a great example of what happens when shooting birds. It takes a whole lot of practice, and truly, once a year trips to shoot birds is not exactly enough in the practice department.

And then there’s focus…

Trying to keep up with flying birds, and find focus in low light or good light, for that matter, is not an easy task. Moving the focus point while also trying to find a good composition sometimes feels more like luck than talent. The cranes are at a distance, even in the fields, they also will walk away from the road very quickly as you creep up in a car. Most of these photos were shot at the end of the lens. I use a Tamron 150-600mm lens that weighs about 4 lbs (1990 g), this lens, attached to my Nikon D500 gets heavy when hand holding and is unwieldy pointed out a car window. Fatigue and bad focus definitely go hand in hand. The photo below is a good example of trying to focus in low light on a group of birds really far away and moving quickly. The other photo tells the story of how active these birds are and that you can never know which bird is going to hop, you have to be quick and hope you choose the correct bird. Maintaining focus, composition, and patiently waiting for something cool to happen is when the fatigue sets in.

Every year we hope that we get better when we go to photograph cranes. Even if we don’t get an award winning shot, or one that we are happy with, we still have a great time and love the way we are pushed to be better photographers. I’m excited to see what 2022 brings!

Taking photos and being amongst nature is the joy.