photoartflightPair Of Sandhill Cranes in Flight
I was going through old images on backup Hard disks and found this image of a pair of Sandhill Cranes in flight at the Lake Woodruff NWR in Florida many years ago. Photographed with a Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom lens. The Sigmonster as it was called was an interesting lens. Very Sharp at all focal lengths but TOUGH to carry around a large Refuge at 12+ lbs and then the tripod and camera body, but you could really work an area and get some Great Images!
Below is an image of some Whooping Cranes that stayed with that flock of Sandhill Cranes at Lake Woodruff that year.
Sometimes it is fun to go through old images. Hopefully it shows your photography is getting better over time!
photoartflight 
Old or new, wonderful photos!
Thanks Belinda! Sometimes it is fun to revisit places you have photographed. Then look up some of those old photos!
The photos are spectacular. I have always been intrigued by that lens and have never encountered anyone who had experience with it. It sounds like it is definitely a monster to handle.
Thanks so much Mike! Yes there was a reason they called it the SigMonster! It was spectacular to use if you setup in an area and worked that area for a while. It was great for birds in flight. You would zoom out to 300mm to find them, then zoom in to 800mm get your final images. But getting older it was too heavy to lug around. I still miss using it, but with newer higher res cameras and lenses like the Sigma 60-600mm or the Tamron 150-600mm seem to be a better choice. Went with the tamron because it was a few pounds lighter and works extremely well with the Canon R. Extremely impressed with the quality of the R files. Thanks again!
It is interesting to hear that you switched to a Canon mirrorless camera–I was looking at the RP. I have the original version of the Tamron 150-600 and it has served me well for a good number of years. I used to use it exclusively handheld, but now use it frequently with a monopod.
Hi again, I think the R is a Great Camera. I was looking for a new camera after getting rid of my Phase One medium format system when I closed down my commercial photo studio. And I have always leaned to Canon except for medium format digital. I also use m43 cameras from Olympus And Panasonic for lighter weight walk around with a zoom lens when using a Canon with long lenses. I like Canon Mostly for their lens lineup for commercial work. Canon makes lenses others did not (especially their wide range of macro lenses) and I liked the look of the files over Sony colors. The R also seems to hold detail in the “whites” nicely also. Especially “white” birds. Worked especially well for white birds in Florida. Without uprezzing you get a 90 meg file and you can really uprez them from there with the new uprez feature in Photoshop. The R also comes with the cables to tether to a laptop when I am still shooting for clients that keep calling me for commercial work. This way they can see and approve images as I am working. Plus it is fun for personal macro shooting.
Thanks again!
WOW, Reed, that first shot is awesome!!
Thanks Donna! It was an amazing place to photograph. Not as well known as a Ding Darling NWR, but it is a huge area to wander around. Plus at times a little strange because you really feel quite alone in a vast area. You go down a road that is basically wide enough for 1 car at a time and park in a small parking area. Then you just walk the trails and hardly see another person. It was fun years ago to get there very early and see River Otters running around and swimming in the pools of water. Then all the birds, alligators, manatees, etc.
wonderful captures 🙂
Thanks! Lake Woodruff NWR is a Great place to photograph!