Getting airborne (pelican)

[wendell westfall]

D70s 70-200VR@200 1/2000 f/2.8 ISO400 0EV handheld

These guys work hard at getting up off the water surface and into the air . . . but they make it very time. For such big birds, their takeoffs are pretty darn impressive. This image was taken awhile back. It has been cropped and tweaked with Lightroom only. C&C, please.

Wendell

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Wendell,

Nice shot, love the 2.8, that wide open and HH to boot - nice work!

I would take a bit of the top to put more focus on your baby and does it look a tad over sharpened to you. Let's see what others say. Great looking bird and hitting the launch sequence is wonderful timing.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Wendell, this is a good one! Agree with Jeff re the sharpening, might be just a tad much. Also would take just a slice off the top. Color-wise, you might try a bit more saturation and just a touch less contrast. Good job getting the action!

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

Very nice take off picture, the splashing droplets really add to the taking off feeling. Agree about a tighter crop.

[Desmond Chan]

This looks very good to me, Wendell. Good timing and details. I can see some slight halo around the bird. Perhaps that gives an impression of over-sharpening? Other than the halo, I think the sharpness of the bird looks fine. May work on the eye a bit though. The crop in general look fines to me.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Wendell the water behind the bird does look good and would like to see more of it ... more room on the back !!!

When you include water splashing experiment with shutter speeds, I find 1/2000 freezes the water giving it an odd look Would try less than 1/1000 Used to do lots of jumping fish and seems to apply to birds as well !!!

[Lance Peters]

Hi Wendell - agree a tad over sharpened and some work on the eye to try and give it a bit more POP.
All good advice above :)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Wendell,
I like the capture very much...you have fine details in the wings...agree that the eye needs a little work, love the splash of water...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[wendell westfall]

I can see now it is over-sharpened (why can't i see these things before I post?).

Here is a re-post of my original image, which is cropped only. I did not bother re-doing any of my other tweaks. I have made a pano of it in order to include more of the pelican's wake, per Alfred's suggestion. I did not do that originally, aiming to make the pelican bigger in the post. Is this better?

[Ron Boisvert]

Hi Wendell, I completely agree with Jeff and Kerry on this one. If you rework this image take a look at the eye. It seems so light that I'm guessing the nictitating membrane is covering the eyeball; it looks a little weird to me. The halo around the bird's perimeter is often a clue to oversharpening. I would look for that before posting. And for another subjective opinion on cropping, I think your repost is a little too tight on the top and bottom for my taste, and perhaps too much in the front.
If this were my image, I would definitely give it another go. It has a lot going for it. I like the action, your position relative to the bird, and the exposure and sharpness seems to be there too. Thanks for sharing this image. I like it and look forward to your next posting!

[Bob Miller]

I agree with Ron about the cropping being a bit too tight on the repost. Also, i think you should try to get your sat. and contrast midway between the orig. and the repost....continue to work on the eye to make it pop more.This is a neat image and worth working on..Look forward to seeing your next posting!