New version of the hide, continued

This is what the coloring of the hide turned out to look like once it was done:
I took the picture after I had set the hide up in preparation for the black grouse mating season that will be starting any day now. Obviously a greenish camo coloring does not blend in well with the white of the snow, but things look much better with some white camonetting:
From a distance, the hide blends in with the landscape rather well.

In my previous post, I forgot to mention that obviously the rainflaps need something to hold them up in the open position when the hide is in use. I sewed thin strips on both sides of the top of the rainflaps. The strips can be tied to hold the rolled rainflap up:

Sunset cranes

We packed our gear in two backpacks and headed out to the edge of the swamp, with the intention of seeing and photographing the cranes that would be arriving at the swamp in the evening. For myself, this was nothing new, I've photographed migrating cranes quite a few times before. My companion however, was going after craneshots for the first time. She was also using gear borrowed from me, and which she was not familiar with. I didn't have very high hopes for the outcome of our trip. Even the weather was against us, steady gray skies with occasional light drizzle to make photography a real challenge and dampen our feelings.

At the end of the dirt road we hoisted the packs on our backs and headed for the swamp. At the edge of the wetlands, we found a small group of trees that we used to attach our camonetting onto. The netting hid us when viewed from the direction where the cranes usually land.

After getting the netting in place, we set our cameras up and had a bite to eat and some tea while we waited for the birds to show up. My companion managed to keep her voice nice and quiet and stay rather still, eventhough waiting for something to happen was obviously not much fun.

Eventually we could hear cranes as they approached from behind the treeline. We both lay low behind the netting, but unfortunately the cranes flew right above us, spotting us and continuing their flight just above the treetops and landing at the far side of the swamp.

My companion managed to take a few pictures on our little outing.

While waiting for the cranes to arrive, she took a picture of the ospreys' nest that was nearby:
There was also a autumn colored cloudberry leaf right next to us:
As the cranes fly by, a quick snapshot was taken:
On the way back to the car, we stopped to look at a treestump and a mushroom. They just had to be photographed:
I decided not to take any nature pictures myself this time around, concentrating instead on documenting my companions doings and feelings during the evening:
All in all, it was a good evening, eventhough we did not manage to take a picture that could be called a "sunset crane". I think this is pretty much what "spending quality time with your kid" means.

Pictures from the meet

So. I managed to go thru the pictures I took at the meet. As usual, a lot of them were a load of crap, but I did manage to take some that I feel ok to publish. I suppose the pictures tell something of our get together. Many thanks to all the guys for attending, it was nice to trade views on the world, photography and maybe give everyone a glimpse of what photography is for me and what my hide projects are all about.

This is what the bunch looked like underneath the camonetting:
The scenery looked something like this, when viewed thru the holes of the netting:
Despite claims to the contrary, some birds did come within photography range:
As we headed back, the bunch broke up a bit, as everyone was looking for their own favourite route back:
If one kept his eyes open, there were things to be spotted and photographed along the walk: