Non-Dalmatian Pelican Landing in Lake Kerkini

[Arthur Morris]

We found this single Great White Pelican (I think that that is the correct name of this species) on the lake among the dalmatians. The larger birds were continuously beating the heck out of this bird but it stood up to them no problem.

This image was created from the boat with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens (hand held at 175mm) with the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Amazing colours and detail and excellent timing. I don't suppose for one minute the whites are blown but I would be curious to see if there would be even more detail if the highlights were reduced a little. I am thinking especially about the right forewing and the left thigh (??)

[Arthur Morris]

Amazing colours and detail and excellent timing. I don't suppose for one minute the whites are blown but I would be curious to see if there would be even more detail if the highlights were reduced a little. I am thinking especially about the right forewing and the left thigh (??)

Interesting. I have always written that when you create a JPEG that contrast is increased. I opened the JPEG post here in PS and found nothing blown, with the brightest RGB values at 246. Then I opened the optimized TIFF and did the same thing; the highest RGB values there are 236 :) Case closed.

I did run a Linear Burn on the WHITEs and am very happy with the look of the master file.

Everyone is advised to check out Great White Tips (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2011/03/05/great-white-tricks/) for some relevant comments and tips on this exact subject (with an image of the same species as the jumping off point).

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Artie, excellent pose with the splash and the bird angle is perfect. also liked the reflection.

[Katie Rupp]

Artie, I like the coming-in-for-landing pose and the exposure looks good to me. I have to add that after seeing your Dalmation Pelican images (which were so bold and striking), this one pales in comparison.

Best,
Katie

[Harshad Barve]

Lovely pose and water splash here , great details as usual , Looks like birds are very friendly there , 70-200 at 175 :eek:
TFS

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, I like the coming-in-for-landing pose and the exposure looks good to me. I have to add that after seeing your Dalmation Pelican images (which were so bold and striking), this one pales in comparison. Best, Katie

Or you might say that this species is beautiful for its elegant simplicity....

[arash_hazeghi]

nice pose and light, it would be nice to see 1024 pixels wide.

[Steven Kersting]

I can't tell much at this size...
It looks sharp enough, in fact I think I would have liked to see some motion blur in the "splash zone" ...there is a little sensor dust showing in the upper right corner.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice landing pose. Was he following in the wake of another bird's landing? Splash shows he's landing but the surrounding water looks pretty still. Maybe he was doing the moonwalk :t3.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Steve, and yes, there was a dalmatian landing right in front of him.

[Arthur Morris]

I can't tell much at this size... It looks sharp enough, in fact I think I would have liked to see some motion blur in the "splash zone" ...there is a little sensor dust showing in the upper right corner.

Thanks for the dust spot heads up. The one in the urc was actually a hair.... When I went in to clean that one up, I noted another in front of the bird in the little wavelet below the primaries of the bird's right wing.

I am curious as to what you might be able to "tell" at 1024 wide that you cannot tell at 800 wide.... Please do tell.

[Steven Kersting]

Thanks for the dust spot heads up. The one in the urc was actually a hair.... When I went in to clean that one up, I noted another in front of the bird in the little wavelet below the primaries of the bird's right wing.

I am curious as to what you might be able to "tell" at 1024 wide that you cannot tell at 800 wide.... Please do tell.

Well, my display is set at 1920x1200 so 800x is a bit small for fine detail...anyways, it is the web so not so critical....

[Kurt Bowman]

I like the action and never seem to get the chance for many landing shots of these guys in my area, so this is an image I have been hoping for. We only get this species in Colorado and I think they are beautiful....certainly not a Dalmatian, but still beautiful.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Kurt. You do not get this species in Colorado :) I am sure that you are referring to White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos).

[Ken Roberts]

I really like it Artie! I love the colors, the timing and a great job on the whites! Very nice image!

[Arthur Morris]

Many thanks Ken. And a big welcome to BPN. Thanks a stack for your membership support. We are almost neighbors :)

[Brendan Dozier]

Great pose Artie, instead of landing it almost looks as if it's surfing or skiing on the water!

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Brendan. They do a lot of skidding as they land!

[Stu Bowie]

Artie, great landing pose, sharp, and I like the overall exposure. Well captured.

[Arthur Morris]

Just this once, at 1024 wide.

[Harshad Barve]

1024 pix is looking awesome , :S3:
TFS

[Arthur Morris]

I agree. As long as both are below 200kb I guess that there it would not make any difference to someone wanting to pirate a print....

[Don Lacy]

HI Artie, Wonderful landing pose and as always the techs are perfect. The 1020 pix image is a significantly better viewing experience for those of us using large monitors :S3:

[Steven Kersting]

Just this once, at 1024 wide.

Well thank you :S3:

Personally, (at least on my monitor) the image seems a bit flat.
I did a levels adjustment in PS and replaced the missing feather. It might be a bit hot now, I wasn't able to recover anything in the rt wing....
http://skguitar.com/photos/pelican.jpg



I'll dump the image from my server if you wish.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Steve, A small increase in contrast would work nicely.