Feather Care...

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image of a preening American White Pelican at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Amazing the dexterity the bird has with such a long bill. my first thought was that it would be like to try to comb my hair with a pair of barbecue tongs, but the bird is able to separate single feathers for grooming. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, camera and lens supported by a monopod
1/2000 F/5.6 Highlight-weighted Metering EV +1/3 ISO 180 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Neat Image for noise reduction when needed, smoothed a few darker areas in the background with the Paintbrush in Photoshop
Cropped slightly for composition and presentation

P.S. Learn more about Lake Morton in the BAA Middle Florida Photography Site Guide that Artie and I co-authored. It is available at this link The BAA Middle of Florida Site Guide (https://birdsasart-shop.com/the-baa-middle-of-florida-photographic-site-guide/)

[David Roach]

Love the different pose on this beauty with that extended neck to reach the hard parts. Composition works well for me for this canvas. I might dodge the necks shadow just a tad more. Another beautiful frame from you... TFS

[Steve Kaluski]

Super image Joe, love the framing and great detail. As the eye is almost open here, I think it would have been nice to have be fully open, but hey... My only comment would be, try to get the whites cleaner, the image then pops and being almost 'pristine' the detail really comes through and shows what a great capture you bagged. :cheers:

Joe, blue BKG your call along with the colouration of the bill, just trying to illustrate my comment re the white plumage, but done on the MBPro so I might be off a fraction.

TFS
Steve

[Arthur Morris]

I like the image -- was this this season? And I like Steve's BLUEs a bit better.

with love, artie

[Joseph Przybyla]

I like the image -- was this this season? And I like Steve's BLUEs a bit better.

with love, artie

Hi Artie, yes this week at Lake Morton.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Super image Joe, love the framing and great detail. As the eye is almost open here, I think it would have been nice to have be fully open, but hey... My only comment would be, try to get the whites cleaner, the image then pops and being almost 'pristine' the detail really comes through and shows what a great capture you bagged. :cheers:

Joe, blue BKG your call along with the colouration of the bill, just trying to illustrate my comment re the white plumage, but done on the MBPro so I might be off a fraction.

TFS
Steve

Thanks Steve, for the suggestions and edit. I will work on getting the whites cleaner and the blue background. Stay healthy...

[Steve Kaluski]

Thank you Joe, may be use PS more and try to do less within LR, you are so close with these images I just feel that you try to do too much in LR and it may not be the right tool.

Stay safe too. :wave:

[Mervyn Marsh]

Lovely shot, i really like the glint in the birds eye!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thank you Joe, may be use PS more and try to do less within LR, you are so close with these images I just feel that you try to do too much in LR and it may not be the right tool.

Stay safe too. :wave:

Hi Steve, I hear you but Lightroom makes what you do in Photoshop easier. Thank you for the encouragement.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.