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.

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!