Over at www.rocktheshotforum.com, the January photo challenge is to choose your favorite photo of 2012.  My initial thought is that this would be a hard choice because I took a lot of pictures in 2012.  But then almost immediately I realized that I had a photo of Sandhill Crane that I knew qualified as my favorite photo of 2012.

We are very privileged to have a pair of Sandhill Cranes living across the street from us.  And they stop by our front yard in search of food occasionally.  When they do stop by I try to grab a couple of photos.  But one morning in February, they were very cooperative and I was able to take a number of photos before they decided they were tired of me and walked away.  This particular pair of cranes are not very afraid of humans, so I was able to get pretty close when taking photos.

I had a hard time deciding between a couple of photos, but I believe this one really is my favorite of all the photos taken.  I love the shallow DOF and I think it really shows off the beauty of these wonderful birds.

Closeup of Sandhill Crane

This photo was taken with my Canon XS using a 75-300mm f4-5.6 lens at fairly close range with the lens extended to 200mm.  I did not do much post processing on this particular photo because I was so happy with the way it turned out.

I also have some additional shots that I wanted to share.  I really wanted to give you a chance to see the beauty and the size of these sandhill cranes.

Sandhill Crane

And here are a couple of photos that show the pair together.  I think they make a great couple. :O)

I just love these sandhill cranes  I’m glad I finally took the time to share them with you.  So, what is one of your favorite photographic subjects?  Share it in the comments below.