Lori Rasmussen is used to the excited text she receives from her husband each year in early March, “The cranes are back!” The annual message means not seeing much of her husband, Grand Island photographer Rick Rasmussen, in March and April – sandhill crane season in Nebraska.

In addition to his morning and evening crane photography excursions, Rasmussen presents crane photography workshops. He’s so busy each spring that he pencils his wife into his crammed crane schedule just to spend time with her. The relationship almost didn’t get off the ground.

Rasmussen’s romantic idea for their second date involved exploring his Platte River playground before sunup. What could go wrong?

The couple waded to his blind. “The waders he gave me leaked and my right leg got soaked up to the knee,” Lori said. “We didn’t even see any birds.” Now, after 15 years of wedded bliss, she loves the Platte River and its wildlife as much as he does.

Rasmussen has photographed wildlife in Norway, Iceland, Canada, South America, Antarctica and Alaska. He’s best known for the sandhill crane photos he takes close to home. He admires the birds’ ability to thrive in an era where increasing harvest efficiency leaves less food for the migrants, and how the cranes endure Mother Nature’s fierce conditions.

“People see the cranes in the frozen river and say ‘Oh, those poor birds,’ but it doesn’t seem to bother them,” Rasmussen said. One spring he followed the flock to nesting grounds in Manitoba. The area was snow packed and the availability of food was weeks away. “I don’t know how they do it,” Rasmussen said. He exhibits similar fortitude when it comes to photography.

Twenty inches of overnight snow didn’t deter him one morning as March roared in like a lion. Rasmussen strapped on his backpack and cross-country skis and slid over the snow for nearly a mile to the river. He belly crawled the last yards through fresh powder and into his blind that was partially collapsed from the squall.

Heavy snow was falling and nary a bird was in the air. The flock was hunkered down with heads tucked under their wings trying to stay warm and out of the wind – lackluster conditions for photography. Suddenly a crane appeared out of the blizzard. Falling snow prevented Rasmussen’s camera from focusing.

“I quickly switched to manual and got one shot off before the bird landed,” Rasmussen said. “I knew it was a special image but wasn’t sure if it was in focus.”

The image showing a single crane flapping through snowflakes, its amber eye aglow against a hazy gray background, was sharp. Going to the blind that day paid off two-fold. That photo, “March Blizzard,” is one of his best sellers. “More importantly, every time I look at it, memories flood in of that day,” Rasmussen said.

Another memorable photography experience began with an early morning voicemail about a flock of rare birds: two dozen whooping cranes spotted near Rockville.

Sandhill cranes are the world’s most common crane species. Whooping cranes are the rarest. At the time of the call in 2011, there were only an estimated 245 whooping cranes in the wild. Single whooping cranes and small family groups of the 5-foot-tall white birds frequent Nebraska each spring, but 24? Surely the birds were pelicans, swans or other case of mistaken avian identity.

Rasmussen flew out the door. A half hour later he couldn’t believe his eyes: nearly 10 percent of the world’s population of critically endangered whooping cranes feeding in a cornfield. The birds fed toward Rasmussen, and he got his shot.

Back on the Platte, Rasmussen and his wife settle into the blind near the end of crane season. The waders held, and a few lingering cranes seemed to pose. Rasmussen barely presses the shutter, watching, knowing the south winds of mid-April will carry them north.

“Ten months will pass before we hear the wind through their wings again,” Lori said. “I look forward to Rick’s sandhill crane text next spring.”

 

RICK’S TIPS

Grand Island photographer Rick Rasmussen has had a camera in his hand for 50 years. Here are Rasmussen’s tips for photographing sandhill cranes on the Platte River in Nebraska.

  • Use a sturdy tripod to support the weight of your camera and lens. Images become blurry when arms get tired.
  • Wide shots of cranes in the Platte River can make for nice landscape shots but every photographer will want to zoom in. Rasmussen uses both 500mm and 600mm lenses to fill his viewfinder with crane close ups.
  • To capture silhouettes of cranes, set your camera’s shutter speed to at least 1/1000 of a second, and set the aperture to f/8.
  • To freeze motion when cranes are dancing in good light, Rasmussen sets his shutter speed to between 1/2000 and 1/2500 of a second, with an aperture of f/8 to f/11.
  • Most importantly, do not disturb the birds.