In the 2023 'Crane Dance in Poyang' Photography Contest, my captured  [Singing Melody] won an award. The photo was taken in December 2017 at Poyang Lake.

After capturing, I started the preparation of equipment research and development and left Jiangxi. I’ve almost no photographing for 5 years because of the development of UELERET equipments.

Recalling the process of capturing this photo, the memories remain vivid, even etched in my heart.

On the dam of Poyang Lake, looking through the telescope at a solitary island in the center of the lake, it is a sandy shoal surrounded by water, with a grassy area in the middle and muddy ground around it. At the shallowest end of the sandy shoal, there were many cranes, at least a few hundred. The cranes were resting on the water, walking, raising their heads, jumping up to fight, and lowering their heads to drink. It was truly lively.

I have always wanted to capture the expressions of cranes in the water. I often see cranes in rice fields and muddy areas near lakes, but I haven't captured them in the water yet.

So I decided to go to the farthest end of the sandy shoal to capture.

Cutting the reeds, preparing various tools, tents, and inflating the kayak, we paddled towards the sandy shoal. The island seemed close, but after half an hour of paddling and then dragging the kayak along the water's edge of the shoal for about 1500 meters, we pulled the kayak ashore, shouldering our backpacks, we walked another 2000 meters to reach the farthest end. When we checked the time, it had taken us three hours.

After setting up the tent, placing reeds around it, and setting the tripod, we returned. On the way back, we inserted a reed every 5 meters as a marker for the return journey in the dark.

Today is just preparation. Shooting will start the day after tomorrow.

I need to enter the tent by 5:30, so we stay at a nearby villager's house. The tent is hidden in the reeds under the embankment, so there's no need to inflate it every time. I wake up at 2:00 in the morning, head to the lake at 2:30 with headlamps, follow the route we took the first time, and enter the tent by 5:35.

Spent the whole day in a prone position, but nothing appeared. I went back at 5:30 in the evening.

The second day, and still, nothing.

On the third day, nothing again. Not a single crane appeared.

A week passed, still nothing. Not a single crane showed up.

Feeling exhausted, we took a day off.

In the second week, the same story, nothing.

I was on the verge of giving up. Why did the cranes I saw here before not show up now? I give myself a pep talk every day.

In the third week, I persisted. On the 19th day, at 3:00 in the afternoon, the cranes finally arrived. The water was filled with them—resting, engaging in head-bobbing fights, drinking with heads bowed, and even catching fish, with silvery strips jumping out. What I loved the most was seeing the cranes on the water, the whole crane family, multiple families, all tilting their heads back, singing their hearts out together.

Reflecting on the weather when I observed and photographed the cranes on the embankment, I've come to a realization. It's actually a combination of weather and other factors that brings the cranes to this water area. The temperature needs to be relatively high, around 4-5 ℃, no wind, and no direct sunlight. At this time, the fish are lacking oxygen and float to the surface. This makes it easy for the cranes to catch fish.

Over the course of more than 20 days, only these two days had very similar weather conditions. During those 20-plus days, there were strong winds, below-freezing temperatures, intense sunlight, and rainy days. In such weather, the fish in the water were not present here, and naturally, the cranes didn't come. These photos have become memories of a shooting experience, occasionally revisited but never submitted for contests. There's still a sense of inadequacy, particularly in the sky or, more precisely, the background, which still feels somewhat empty. If only there were clouds. But in such weather, the cranes wouldn't come.

This photo was submitted to the photography competition at Poyang Lake, fulfilling my aspirations to a greater extent.

Wenming Tang

Diary of December 27, 2023

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