Pelican

Gallery: AvianPosted January 21, 201159 views4 comments

I enjoy heading to one of our local lakes where I know a large group of pelicans stay all summer. This location is actually on the release side of the control structure for the small earthen dam that creates this lake.

I am posting this picture to get as much advice as to what I can do to make shots like this better as this opportunity comes around often and I never tire of taking these photos. Thank you in advance for the advice.

Canon Rebel XS
EF 75-300 f/4-5.6
f/9.0
210.0 mm
1/250 sec
Panning with the Pelican

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on January 21, 2011 at 9:35 PM

When I started here I receive some great advice. This is my first suggestion. The head looks pretty sharp but the wings have motion blurr. You should try AV mode with a lower f stop to get the shutter speed up. I find that at least 1/1200 or higher works to stop the action. Also you should list your ISO so it can be determined if there is some room there to increase you shutter speed. Also in Post Processing you might want to level the frame. Also how much did you crop if any? If you have room on the left you might want to increase that to allow room for the bird to fly into. I do like this image.

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Walt Sterneman on January 21, 2011 at 10:24 PM

I love these shots with the bird flying close to the water. In addition to what has already been mentioned, it would be nicer to catch the bird flying at an angle more toward the camera than away from it. You can capture a little more of the all important eye that way which gives the viewer some connection to the bird.

Registered on March 24, 2010, 73 Posts, 1268 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 22, 2011 at 12:51 AM

Some good suggestions all ready. I noticed that the shore line seems a bit tilted and the photo therefore could stand a couple of degrees of cw rotation I think. I like the hint of motion blur in the water from your panning. Something tells me this is Saskatchewan?

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 22, 2011 at 2:36 PM

Tony,

I think Harry and Walt have given you some sound advice already. I'd like to have seen this with a higher shutter speed which may have meant less dof and a higher ISO.

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