Snow Geese, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM

The two sounds that bring Bosque del Apache most vividly to mind are the rattle of the Sandhill Cranes and the constant calling of the Snow Geese. On the ground or in the air…the aggregated sound of so many creatures fills the ear and leaves little room for anything else. (Well, maybe with the exception of the whir and click of hundreds of camera shutters as you stand among the photographers. 🙂 This shot catches a goose calling in the air.

It used to be that shots like this were next to impossible without an investment of several thousands of dollars and considerable practice time. In fact a dozen or more photo gurus make quite a bit of money each Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (or in the weeks surrounding the Festival) teaching people to capture at least an occasional image like this one, and several of the big-name camera and lens companies, and one camera retailer have gear on display, for loan, and for sale at the Festival. I hear the gurus instructing their students on how to manually set up their expensive automated cameras (over-riding the automation), for the light and motion at different times of day and in different situations…landing birds, soaring birds, gliding birds, rising birds…with background…against the sky…etc.  I teach there too, but I shoot with a Point & Shoot camera with as much automation as possible…and that is what I teach. This shot is in Shutter preferred, since catching the action is the goal, but it is in auto everything else, including focus. It is amazing how well the most recent Point and Shoot superzooms do with birds in flight. It seems to get easier with each generation. (And, of course, with practice…but there is no where better than the Bosque to practice birds in flight!) The investment in gear is less than $600…putting it within the reach of a whole new group of potential photographers. And is it a lot of fun!

Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f7.1. Processed in Lightroom and one half bird edited out on the right in iPixio.