Japanese Cranes in snow storm

There is used to be a theme for discussion - Would it be fair to call this "Beauty of Nature" ?!

 

Truely lovely scene. Congratuation, Larry for this POW - an honour you well deserve.

 

I wonder why Larry has chosen such slow film for this type of high-speed and dull colour job. BTW, this must be a "film burning" excercise and I guess he must have fired hundreds of rolls before getting this fabulous shot.

 

Michele (our perspective/geometry engineer) has cracked a joke - i am sure he (and other "manipulation" detectives) would be much less excited than last week. It is certainly this case for me :)

From the moment I first saw this photo, it imprinted on me. I could only smile when it became photograph of the week. I can't tell you how many people I have described this image too, imagine the prance, the feet lifted, yep... I did all that. It is stunning!

I'm curious... the birds are moving, but this was shot on a gray day (snowstorm) with Velvia? You must own some very, VERY expensive glass to be able to freeze motion with those restraints!

Patrick,

You are correct. There is a mistake in the technical details and the film was

Fuji Sensia 100. This was posted several months ago and I hadn't noticed the

error. However, interestingly enough this portion of the ritual dance is rather

slow and deliberate so the motion was not very fast hence I was able to

capture the image.

 

Yes, Alan film burning was involved...also a bit of numb fingers and toes since

I was traveling rather light and it was COLD!!!

 

I'm really honored by the selection of this shot for the photo of the week

...thanks!

Larry Etkin

Wow! what a wonderful capture of nuptial ritual of Japanese Cranes. This is what it is, a courtship dance. Thanks!

Superb image. And if you haven't edged out, copied, and pasted the same bird from another shot into this one, then I suppose we'll have a peaceful week...:-) Best regards.

Those are different birds. You can tell from their neck patterns.

I could look at this photograph for a long time and not get tired. Years. Maybe more. There is something perfect about it. After freezing your feet to get this you really deserve this honor. Congratulations.

Did you discover a new technique to clone bird and make those clones look different?!!... is it what we call natural picture... long time no see !! <:o)

Interesting 'snow-grain'!

I am living in Japan and I hope one day I can go North in Hokkaido island to see those wonderful bird mating in snow (actually they mate in any season but with snow it's so beautiful), very symbolic in Japan (ornament of 10,000 Yen banknote... the biggest one!!). Here, crane are symbol of peace, fidelity (the crane are said to stay with same partner for life) and long life (in mythology it said to live 1000 years)

Last but not least: you want a happy wedding ?! ... you just have to fold 1000 origami of crane before the ceremony...!!

I'd like to be able to offer some kind of critical analysis, but the fact is that I don't know how you could improve on this photo. You must have waited a long time in adverse conditions, and it looks like you got what you were waiting for. Congratulations on PoW.

Elegant, yes and attractive, but he might have snapped this after five minutes, from the car. Who knows? Who cares? Great pic.

Picture looks to me as "haiku" as I could have ever imagined before seeing this one. Not only as an animal or bird shot, but being truely "japanese", like calligraphy on white paper

This is a magnificent image. The stark contrast between the birds and the background is wonderful. Most images captured in the snow to not have this effect. BRAVO!!!

Nice posture, and snow is powerfull

they seem like dancing to the snow. it gives -as someone said- a refreshing feeling and not only because of the snow. A picture that many of us -certainly me- would like to have in their portfolio.

thank you,

g

Amazing what this photo has done: It's left G nearly speechless. That's a powerful photograph.

The subtle background tones complete this image to my eye, giving it depth that is impressive in an image with so few elements. The paucity of elements gives it its elegance as well, and the birds themselves give it its fun. It's clearly not full-frame, but the shape of the image feels right. Nice work. Enjoy.

Excellent photo!! Only question: Why are the black parts of the cranes without any snowflake?

larry,

 

your photograph's tonal simplicty and complimentary backdrop merge with the synchronized ritualistic posturing (composition) of the cranes to create an image that is soft-spoken, lovely and ultimately memorable.

 

I have never seen the dancing cranes in person and am sure you have rolls of images as they are focused on their courting and sparking. It might be a fun excercise to see the 'contact sheet' sometime, to see where you were (conceptually) and what did and did not work for you.

 

Thanks for sharing this photo with us. It's a rare photo when I have no critique and its a pleasure to just sit back... with some music (Sting happens to be on right now "fragile") and imagine being there myself.

 

What has become known as the japanese aesthetic seems to be most available in japan.

 

You have several other strong photos in your portfolio but this stands above the others. You are talented.

 

pete sherman

Larry, If you ever market this photo as a Christmas card, please let me know. It's a celebration of life! Congrats on a fine image and POW. Cheers, Greg

Interesting . . . .

 

It's Wednesday morning and by now, many POW discussions

are beginning to slow down, as this one appears to be. I wonder

why no one is inclined to take a successful shot like this and

analyze it from the standpoint of why it works . . . . after all, so

many of us can go on and on about why images fail.

 

For example, images with two subject often create unwanted

attention because they compete with each other. Why isn't this a

problem here? I have some ideas, but I wondered if anyone

else had had a similar reaction.

Interesting question Carl... probably because they dont compete instead there is interaction between the two of them like this one too , like dancing walzt or making love (probably that what those 2 birds intend to do later on)...

so that being 2 characters is very aesthetic here (ballet style IMO).. if only one would just be a pick of a bird on ice

Repetition of a key element, thats why it works. Just like identical twins dressed alike standing next to each other attract attention.

indeed Bernhard!!

A great shot here Larry! We humans are not used to watching animals dance. Here you have captured not one, but TWO, together at the same time in perfect sync and harmony as well as in a near perfect snowy setting. It also helps to recognize the male and female so distinctly. The male just slightly larger and a bit more color. The female smaller, perhaps a bit more delicate....they balance each other very well. To me, this is a once in a lifetime capture...and a very worthy picture of the week!! Thanks for sharing.

I have posted a separate thread with all nominations for this week:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006YyP

Enjoy!