One Dive Too Many

Gallery: AvianPosted November 26, 201097 views7 comments

Thanksgiving morning I went to Bolsa Chica for a short morning shoot. As I arrived the Brown Pelicans were putting on a show right next to a bridge we use to access the trails through the reserve. This guy had completed a series of dives and seemed to be a bit worn out. I thought that there would be very little photography activity because of the holiday, but there were quite a few photographers there and the pelicans were really showing off.
Date 11/25/2010 7:40 a.m.
Camera 7D with 300mm f/2.8L
Mode Aperture priority
SS 1/400
AV f2.8
Metering Evaluative
Exposure Comp + 1/3
ISO 800
Crop 90% of full frame (a little off the top and right side)

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on November 26, 2010 at 2:39 PM

Nice detail and colors here. Some will want a lower angle, but then you'd lose part of the reflection.
My only suggestion would be to have the bird less centered.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Shepherd on November 26, 2010 at 3:18 PM

Very nice Pelican shot, Harry.

Andy...

Registered on September 24, 2006, 123 Posts, 1254 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 26, 2010 at 3:57 PM

Nice exposure, nice water, nice sharpness. A bit lower would have been nice, not a lot, just a bit.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on November 26, 2010 at 4:16 PM

I like the image the way it is. Nice color, reflection water color and dof.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on November 26, 2010 at 10:37 PM

Sweet pose, Harry and wonderful detail. I like the bit of glow in the eye.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 27, 2010 at 6:57 AM

Harry, I like the pose of the pelican resting on the water, the nice eye contact and the lovley colors. I agree a slightly lower angle would have improved this, but not much lower. Since you had a high shutter speed I probably would have used more dof than you did here to get the whole bird in focus to accentuate the interesting plumage pattern on the wings and the tufts of feathers at the back of the head. I like the comp you used and the small concentric ripples in the water.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on December 11, 2010 at 5:29 PM

Nice shot- excellent details, colours and pose- well done, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments