whitewater draw

Love Song

I thought I’d share how an image can progress from a mundane photo to a print-worthy work of art. And to celebrate the successful creation of my new release, I’m offering ‘Love Song’ at a deep discount in an introductory Flash Sale!

A few weeks ago I went on a day trip to Whitewater Draw in southeastern Arizona, only a couple of hours from my home. Sandhill cranes in the tens of thousands are wintering there. They roost in the shallow ponds at night for safety from predators and fly out at sunrise to nearby fields to forage. They return to the ponds midday when the light for photography is harsh and unappealing.

Due to our ongoing drought, the water level was low and the shoreline had receded from the designated observation areas. I used a big 200-600mm zoom to catch the action, but everything was pretty far off in the distance. Here’s the shot I captured, straight from my camera. Not too inspiring, huh?

Sandhill cranes mate for life and they keep the bond strong throughout the year by performing courtship displays, not only during the breeding season but all year around. In the far distance I could see this pair dancing, spreading their wings, strutting, and raising their voices in vocalization. I clicked the shutter and grabbed what I could, but by no means could this be called a masterful ‘in camera’ capture!

The first thing to do was look for a crop to highlight the intended subject matter and eliminate the distractions. The saving grace that makes this possible is the fact that my professional camera is capable of taking high resolution images which allows for such a severe crop without pixellating the image. I tried both horizontal and vertical crops, tweaking until I finally settled on this for starters. But again, the background was an uninspiring muddy brown and still included bits and pieces of neighboring cranes.

Some enhancements in Photoshop eliminated the distractions and brightened and sharpened the details. But it still was not an image to write home about.

Back again in Photoshop, the final step was to merge the subject cranes with an artistic textural background, using digital brush strokes to blend, strengthen or soften the effect as needed. I chose this particular background for the soft complementary colors and the spattered white space that helps to frame the romantic duo and erase the last vestiges of neighboring birds.

Posted by Carol in Arizona

Day Trip to Whitewater Draw

Feb 10, 2022

A fun outing last week to Whitewater Draw, not far from home. Whitewater Draw is a wildlife area managed by the Arizona Game & Fish Department. It covers approximately 600 acres of wetlands and riparian habitat and features a large lake. Located only a couple of hours from Tucson, and close to Tombstone and Bisbee, it makes for an entertaining day trip.

Sandhill Cranes in the tens of thousands spend the winter there. The cranes take wing at sunrise, leaving the ponds to forage for food in nearby fields. They return to the water midday to spend the night in safety from predators. Other waterfowl including ducks, geese, herons, egrets and shorebirds are also attracted to the shallow waters and wetlands.

The site amenities are minimal but include gravel parking lots, picnic tables, signed trails, and benches and viewing platforms by the lake shore. Dogs on leash are allowed. We visited on a Tuesday and it was not at all crowded – just scattered small groups of folks enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.

My visit was a casual foray just to check things out. If I had been serious about photography, I would have arrived the evening before, camped overnight, and set my alarm clock to wake pre-dawn to photograph the cranes taking off at sunrise. Still, even though this was just a scouting expedition, I didn’t leave my camera at home.

The cloudy skies were to my benefit, canceling out harsh midday shadows. I was happy with the images I captured that day. I’m still looking through my files for the keepers, but here are a couple I thought were print-worthy.

Be sure to click on the video at the top of this post to hear the sound of thousands of cranes socializing. 

SYNCHRONIZED FOR SPLASHDOWN
Sandhill Cranes glide down for a water landing at the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area in southeastern Arizona. It’s fascinating to see their ability to synchronize wingstrokes in flight.
FORAGING IN THE MUD
I like the pose of this bird, with his lifted foot encased in mud and his eyes intently focused in search of a meal.
Posted by Carol in Arizona