Half a million Sandhill Cranes stop over along the Platte River between Grand Island and Kearney Nebraska each spring. The "Central Flyway is considered one of nature's greatest migration spectacles. The cranes have been making this journey for thousands of years. 2012 has already been an unusual year. For the first time in recorded history, several thousand cranes wintered in Nebraska.
It's hard to explain why I became "hooked" on Crane Photography. Crane Photography is a challenge. They all look alike. Neither they or the surrounding fields are very colorful. There are hundreds of thousands but they like to remain in the distance.
The cranes spend their nights on sandbars in the river. Very little of the land along the river is open to the public at night. There are a couple of blinds in good locations that can be rented if you are willing to pay more than the cost of a good motel room for the privilege. Even there, you will find that the random nature of the cranes could mean that no cranes will be in sight. Depending on the day, the cranes will not arrive until it's too dark for photographs and will depart as or before the sun rises the next morning. I've rented blinds on several occasions with mixed success.
A couple of places provide guided tours that enter blinds near the river before sunset and depart after dark. I've done this twice and didn't get a useable photo either time. The blinds are in good locations so you can usually hear and see cranes.
When sunset is near, the cranes fly overhead in flocks looking for a safe place to sleep. There are cranes everywhere and you can get some impressive sunset shots - as long as you aren't in a blind.
If I get up soon enough, I can arrive along the eastern portion of the river before sunrise. The nearest sleeping cranes will be in huge flocks at least a quarter of a mile away. It is very impressive to see them wake up and leave as a group.
The next two hours are crucial. The light is good and the cranes are more active than they will be later. They fly lower looking for friends and good places to eat. They break into dances to celebrate the new day. I drive along the gravel roads until I see cranes near the road. Using my vehicle as a blind, I get as close as I can without disturbing them. The cranes aren't fooled. If they don't fly away immediately, they begin a slow retreat so that I have an increasingly smaller and smaller view of their backsides. Even so, I get my best photos this way.
During the remainder of the day, I can take a break from crane photography. The cranes are not as active. The sun heats up the ground enough to cause heat waves that distort my photos.
I plan my afternoon journey to put me into a good position at sunset. I usually don't position myself at the river at sunset because it is hard to see the setting sun there. With a long lens, even a wisp of colorful clouds can make a mediocre sunset look spectacular.
You get the best crane photographs when you are in the right place at the right time. Longer lenses provide more opportunities but any lens can produce spectacular results.
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