Tips for Photographing the Majestic Sandhill Crane

The New Mexico sky is turning crimson red, the setting sun beaming through a small hole on the horizon, transforming the cloudy sky into hues of pink and auburn. Hundreds, if not thousands, of sandhill cranes are flying in and landing on a small pond in front of me. Suddenly four cranes start to march across the pastel-colored water with perfect separation, and I start snapping away. This is going to be a moment I won’t soon forget.

When it comes to avian photography, many photographers have a particular bird they love to photograph, and for me that bird is the sandhill crane. These graceful birds fly by my house during migration, and nest nearby in a marsh. Their constant chatter signals the beginning of summer. During the winter sandhill cranes gather in the thousands on wildlife refuges in the southern U.S. And every year I travel south to photograph this gathering of cranes.

What makes these birds so photogenic is their stately nature. Standing almost four feet tall and with a wingspan over six feet, sandhills elegantly glide across the sky, so slowly you can easily find them in the viewfinder.

If you’re new to bird photography, sandhill cranes are the perfect introduction. Their large size and slow flight make capturing birds in flight easy compared to tracking a tiny warbler flitting through dense vegetation.

Using Nikon’s amazing prime telephoto lenses, I was able to capture some of the best sandhill crane images I have ever taken.

Here are some tips and techniques that will help with your bird photography, whether you’re photographing a robin at your backyard birdbath, or thousands of sandhill cranes flying overhead.

Shooting mode. For birds and wildlife I prefer Manual Mode with auto ISO. I like to set my shutter speed and aperture manually, and let the camera adjust ISO as the exposure changes. In the shooting menu I set my top auto ISO value to 6400. You can use exposure compensation in this mode to adjust exposure further if need be. I normally shoot wide open at f/4 on my 600mm for more light and lower ISO values, unless I need more depth of field.

Autofocus mode. I use three autofocus modes for bird photography; 3D-tracking, Wide-area AF (large) and Auto-area AF mode. I like to use 3D-tracking when I need a narrow focus point to precisely focus on a specific bird in my frame. Wide-area AF (large) is great for tracking birds in flight and perched birds as well. The wider focus rectangle gives me more room to find the bird in the frame. Auto-area AF is great for birds in flight, especially in a clear sky. This mode will use the entire viewfinder searching for a bird and lock on to it.

For all these modes I set subject detection to birds. To quickly change autofocus modes I program my video record button to Cycle AF-area modes using the three autofocus modes mentioned above. In a split second, without taking my eye away from the viewfinder, I can switch autofocus modes for different situations.

Shutter speed/frame rate. I like to photograph at 1/2000 or faster for sharp images. Feathers and wingtips can easily blur, so shoot as fast as you can. On bright sunny days I may be photographing at 1/5000 for razor sharp wing acuity. When reviewing image sharpness, check the primary feathers (wing tips), they are the first to blur if your shutter speed isn’t fast enough.

Since sandhill cranes fly so slowly you can shoot at slower speeds and still get sharp images. I often photograph cranes flying after sunset at shutter speeds of 1/500 with good results. With perched birds you can shoot even slower, especially if you’re using a stable tripod.

Bird behavior changes in a split second. Cranes might suddenly flip sideways and drop out of the sky to land in a pond. I shoot at 20 frames-per-second so I don’t miss any of the action.

Photographing Birds in flight

One of the biggest challenges in bird photography is capturing birds in flight. With the amazing subject tracking available in Nikon cameras, this task has gotten much easier. Try using Wide-area AF (large) or Auto-area AF to focus on birds in flight. Using my Z 9 and these modes the autofocus easily locks onto the subject. Often the challenge is finding the bird in your viewfinder.

TIP Sight the bird over the top of your lens, and then put your eye to the viewfinder, you should have the bird in your frame. Lots of practice will improve your hand-eye coordination.

One of my favorite ways to photograph cranes might surprise you. Since sandhill cranes are so slow and graceful in flight, I often photograph at 1/60 of a second or slower to create motion blur abstracts. My favorite time for this type of image is after the sun has set and the sky is pink and purple during civil twilight. It is a great way to extend your shooting time at the end of the day.

Lens Choices for Photographing Cranes

Nikon makes a lot of great wildlife lenses. Many of my workshop participants use the NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR for crane photography. Being able to zoom in and out for different compositions is very helpful. Other lenses, such as the NIKKOR Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S and NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S are incredibly lightweight, and great when you need to move around following birds.

My favorite bird photography lens is the NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S. The fast aperture, blazing fast autofocus, and built-in 1.4x teleconverter are invaluable for bird photography. With a flip of a switch the teleconverter transforms my 600mm f/4 lens into an 840mm f/5.6, perfect for tightening up compositions. I also use the NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S for photographing flocks of cranes, and the wider NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S to capture environmental crane images.

Understanding Bird Behavior

Understanding behavior is crucial in photographing wildlife, and sandhill cranes have some unique habits. One of my favorite behaviors to photograph is what I call ‘parachuting’. As cranes land, they’ll fold their enormous wings, creating a parachute effect to slow them down. Photographing cranes parachuting against sunset is an image not to miss. If you ever see a crane leaning, get ready, because the crane is about to take off. Sandhill cranes land and take off into the wind, so position yourself upwind to photograph them facing you.

Where to find Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill cranes can be found in most of the U.S., but finding refuges with large concentrations of birds is the best for photographing them. Check nearby wildlife refuges to find the closest sandhill crane location near you. Below are a few of my favorite locations:

Bosque Del Apache, N.M. Without a doubt Bosque Del Apache is my favorite place to photograph sandhill cranes because of the incredible light and scenic mountain backdrops. Every morning and evening thousands of cranes fly between feeding areas and ponds. The Bernardo Waterfowl Area just to the north of Bosque Del Apache is also an excellent spot. The winter months of late November through late February see the highest concentration of birds, and some of the most dramatic sunsets you can imagine.

North Platte River, Kearny, NE. Kearny, Nebraska is known as the ‘Sandhill Crane Capital of the World’, and with good reason. This area hosts the largest concentration of sandhill cranes in the U.S. Some 500,000 birds arrive during spring migration in March, and the cacophony of cranes is almost deafening. This area has boardwalks and blinds for photographers to access.

Monte Vista, CO. Imagine photographing sandhill cranes flying in front of snow-capped mountains. Every March cranes migrate through the high mountain valleys of Colorado and stop at the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge. While the number of cranes isn’t as high as other refuges, the stunning mountain backdrops are sublime.

With thousands of cranes surrounding you, vary your composition for a diverse portfolio of images. Photograph birds in flight, tight head shots, parachuting cranes, reflections, and environmental landscapes. With so many birds flying past, experiment with slow shutter speeds to create abstract images of birds in flight.

Tom Bol is a professional photographer specializing in travel, adventure and wildlife. See more of his work and workshops at his website at www.tombolphoto.com.