In the Field

Sandhill Crane - Dawn Primping. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. August 31, 2024.

I captured this image during my "Summer in the Southern Great Bear" exploratory photo adventure in August of 2024. While Sandhill Cranes aren't the first species most people associate with the Great Bear Rainforest, they are actually quite common in the Great Bear, especially along the islands on the outer side of the coast (i.e., those close to the open Pacific Ocean).

This image was captured during a foggy morning just as the sun was burning its way through the mist. A few things struck me about the scene and made it, at least to me, "photo worthy." First, while we saw a lot of Sandhill Cranes on this particular photo tour, this is the only one that was pretending it was a Great Blue Heron and wading in the ocean. Second, I loved the lighting - I'm a real sucker for "sun-low-in-the-sky" side lighting! And third (and related to the lighting at the time) I loved the downy feather in the crane's bill - and how it caught the early morning light (the bird was preening the feathers on its back at the time).

The photo tours I run mostly take place on BC's amazing central and northern coast. During these tours we do have specific wildlife species that we prioritize to find and photograph (such as grizzlies, spirit bears, coastal gray wolves, etc.). But my attitude - which I try to instill into my guests on the tours - it that I/we will take advantage of any form of natural beauty that we are presented with, be it a landscape, a seascape, a non-target wildlife species - whatever! Most photographers on the tours I lead happily adopt this approach and come away with many "unexpected" bonus images. But...I admit that I am not always successful in imparting this attitude on others!

This crane photo is a perfect example of what can come from the attitude of taking advantage of the opportunities we are presented with. Nope, it wasn't a crane tour, but in my opinion it was definitely worth raising my camera up and capturing the moment. But...each to their own! 😉

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this handsome and quite large bird:

• Sandhill Crane - Dawn Primping: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 3.5 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Summer in the Southern Great Bear Exploratory Photo Adventure in late August of 2024. Each year I offer trips into two different parts of the Great Bear Rainforest as well as two tours into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

Sandhill Crane - Dawn Primping. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. August 31, 2024.

High Efficiency* Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 640.

Nikon Z 9 paired with Z Nikkor 800mm f6.3S. Hand-held from floating Zodiac inflatable boat. VR on in Sport mode. 3D-tracking AF area mode with subject detection set to "Birds" mode.

1/1250s @ f6.3; -1.3 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Sandhill Crane - Dawn Primping. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. August 31, 2024.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .nef (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD2S algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 8.1 Elite (using the appropriate lens/camera optical module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Phase One's Capture One Pro 23 (build 16.4.6). In the case of this image the only global adjustments were a tweak to the contrast (a minor Levels adjustment) and a reduction of the highlights. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 6 separate layers, with most of the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to clarity, highlights, shadows, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

Sandhill Crane - Dawn Primping. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. August 31, 2024.

Species Status in Canada*: Not at Risk.

Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) are large, heavy-bodied, long-necked and long-legged birds that inhabit open grasslands, meadows, and shallow freshwater marshes. They are found widely in Canada and the US. Sandhill Cranes can live to 35 years or older in the wild. First breeding can take place between 2 to 8 years in age, depending on several factors (subspecies, population, and individual development). Between this delayed breeding and their low annual reproductive success (approx. 0.35 young/yr) population growth of the Sandhill Cranes is very low, even when conditions are optimal.

Breeding pairs and families make up the primary social units, but at times Sandhills are highly gregarious with extended family groups and unrelated birds roosting communally and/or feeding in large flocks.

Although Sandhill Cranes experienced dramatic population declines across North America in the first half of the twentieth century owing to human-induced mortality (including habitat loss, human disturbance in remaining habitat, and hunting) today only the Florida population is known to remain in decline. Although the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species of "least concern" the low annual recruitment and slow population growth rate gives some level of concern for the future of this species.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada