Brown Pelican

[Joseph Przybyla]

Image captured at Ft. Desoto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida. These are big birds, difficult to take flight from the water, especially with wet feathers. The feet push, the wings flap hopping across the water until fast enough to take flight. 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 Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/2000 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1/3 ISO 640 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2021 and Topaz Sharpen AI
Cropped for composition and presentation

[Randy Stout]

Joe:

Nice display of the take off. Flying water, cupped feet, angle in the frame, all good.

The colors look a bit warmer than I am used to seeing, but perhaps it was the time of day.

Cheers

Randy

[Brian Sump]

Joe, I dig the more pronounced appeal of the Brownies versus traditional white/American.

Bird looks pretty good. Tone looks good to my eye.

Aside from having a frame in the sequence where the near wing is in full spread to match the opposing one, I find myself wishing for a little more left. I do, however understand why you composed it how you did with the water splashes. Perhaps a candidate for a pano crop?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Well caught,good timing, the angle not quite optimal but there's nothing you could do about that. I big impressive bird - makes me think of a rugby player charging forward through any obstacles.

[David Roach]

Love that you included the water action to complete the story. I agree it would make a great pano. TFS

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes, this one would look very nice a good chunk taken off the bottom. I can just hear the splashing feet off the water!

[Joseph Przybyla]

Thanks everyone for viewing and commenting, much appreciated.