Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: CraneFest

Part of Michigan Audubon's Baker Sanctuary, from the Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area. Sandhill Cranes live here; in the autumn there are thousands of 'em. Taken during CraneFest about a decade ago.

Well, kinda; this dam's got sort of a drain. Big Marsh Lake, near Bellevue; another photo from the Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area.

Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area, near Bellevue, Michigan.

One last shot of the cranes, for now, with a reminder that Michigan Audubon's Cranefest occurs on the second weekend in October, at Big Marsh Lake near Bellevue, Michigan. Put it on you calendar; it's wonderful.

10/9/2010, during Cranefest at Big Marsh Lake.

At Big Marsh Lake from the Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area, near Bellevue, on 10/22/2005. Hundreds of cranes have already landed in the marsh; some can be seen in this photo (though not well; they're mostly along those broken trees). Michigan Audubon's Cranefest occurs at Big Marsh early every October, but Audubon and Kiwanis open the viewing area on weekends throughout the month.

Same trip to Big Marsh Lake: 10/30/2010.

10/30/2010 (again).

10/30/2010.

From Kiwanis Youth Area near Bellevue, Michigan. Photo taken during Michigan Audubon's CraneFest in October of 2004 with my Nikon N90s. Scanned from a negative.

During CraneFest from the Kiwanis Youth Area; the Big Marsh is the heart of the Bernard Baker Sanctuary. Photo taken 10/11/2015.

There's something about Michigan Audubon's Baker Sanctuary that brings out my Art Photo tendencies. Keep your eye on this space.... Photo taken 10/9/2004.

Still sorting through old photographs. This one's from 2005. What this photo doesn't capture is the incredible sound all these large birds make.

Another photo found while sorting through my archive--though this one's not particularly old, as I took it last October. I'd purchased Nikon's FT-1 adapter for my Nikon 1 with the explicit intention of attaching my 300 mm lens to the little camera. Since the multiplier's 2.7, a 300 mm on the V2 is equivalent to an 810 mm lens on a full-frame (D)SLR. The obvious application for such a setup is photographing wildlife. But really you need to practice to use the gear well, and circumstances had prevented that. So I found myself at Michigan Audubon's Baker Sanctuary CraneFest without adequate preparation--and with a shaky tripod. All in all, a bad photographic experience, though as always we enjoyed the festival. Saturday was the first time I'd looked seriously at the resulting pix; they were quite as bad as I suspected. I've since repaired the tripod, by the way....