Morning Takeoff

Photograph by Aijing He , National Geographic Your Shot

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico is a well-known winter home for thousands of migrating sandhill cranes, writes Your Shot member Aijing He . A particular pond in the refuge hosts a large flock of cranes at night. Every morning they fly out, one by one, to the nearby grass field to feed.

On a cold December morning, He waited patiently for the cranes morning takeoff. At around 7 a.m., they started their daily routine. The early morning light was still very dim, so I decided to reduce the shutter speed to 1/30th of a second to give a blurring effect to the flapping wings, and with some panning techniques, I managed to make the eye and the red crown stay well in focus.

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