American White Pelican... breeding adult

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Wonderful experience, sitting on the ground with these beautiful birds a few feet away. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED image captured at 210mm
1/1000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV 0 ISO 140 Auto 1 WB, camera supported by a monopod
Post processed in Lightroom Classic CC, Photoshop CC 2019 and Neat Image for noise reduction (when needed)
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Isaac Grant]

Very pretty image Joe. This has a really peaceful feel about it and I really like how you have processed it. Beautiful preening pose and love the eye contact. I would reduce the blues on the wings a bit but otherwise this is very nice. I almost never when in the field try for portraits. Not sure why but just don't. But I do enjoy yours.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Very pretty image Joe. This has a really peaceful feel about it and I really like how you have processed it. Beautiful preening pose and love the eye contact. I would reduce the blues on the wings a bit but otherwise this is very nice. I almost never when in the field try for portraits. Not sure why but just don't. But I do enjoy yours.

Thanks Isaac, I knew there was blue in the whites there because it was shadowed. I was mixed about removing it. Will make a virtual copy and see what it looks like. Regarding portraits, if you encounter birds that are tame or let you approach close you really should try. At first just sit quietly, let the birds get accustomed to you being there. Listen to them, there murmurs and chirps. Then slowly begin capturing images when they are comfortable and acting naturally. Time well spent. Thank you for viewing and commenting

[Isaac Grant]

Good info Joe. All reading this should take note. You consistently produce high quality portraits. Around New York there are very few species that allow such close approach. And the ones that do are not really the ones that you would typically photograph. Easy to get close to say Canada Goose, or the gulls, and Pigeons. But everything else is so hard. The egrets and herons that down by you are crazy tame, when they are here and breeding they are typically shy and super difficult to approach. For instance there are a couple of pairs of Tri-colored Herons that breed in NYC. I have never gotten closer than 100 feet to one of those birds here. They just fly away right away. Probably why I just do not think of shooting portraits because it really isn't much of an option here. I have some duck portraits, a great blue heron portrait and a couple of others but don't ever post them. Like I said, I will just enjoy yours.

[Joseph Przybyla]

This is an edit and repost. I used negative saturation on the whites to remove the blue cast in the shadows and reduced the black in the whites on the whole bird.

P.S. Isaac, thanks for responding, much appreciated.

[Isaac Grant]

Looks nice Joe.

[John Mack]

Great portrait. Nice pose and detail.

[William Dickson]

Looking good Joe...Lovely colours and sharpness. the water colour really makes the bird stand out.

Will