Now that it’s dark so early, Rich and I see our neighborhood fountain lit up on our walks. It’s really pretty, and for weeks I’ve been thinking that I should go down to the pond at night and do some long exposures. I finally did that over our Thanksgiving break. What was unexpected and really cool was that the neighborhood Sandhill Cranes were also out, and let me photograph them with the fountain.
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It was harder than it looked. First I knelt down with the tripod and figured out the exposure (2 secondson TV mode, with -3EV exposure compensation dialed in to avoid blowing out the whites.) Then I scooted over to include the bird in the fountain trail. I had to move carefully because the cranes were a little skittish. I used my remote release shutter to take the exposures. The cranes kept moving their heads in mid-exposure. It didn’t help that lots of cars were driving by (and probably slowing down to see what the crazy photographer lady was doing!) I made lots of attempts and managed to get a few without head blur. This one was my favorite because it also included the crane’s whole body.
I should have posted this on Black Friday, hehe!