Pelican

I was torn between this view and a closer crop of the body which would emphasize the pelican's framed eye. as shown in the link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28305360@N00/518) Any thoughts would be appreciated?
The light is very contrasty and I couldn't/didn't know how to improve it without making the bird look artificial. Comments?

Blake

1D4, 280mm 70-200 f/2.8II + 1.4x, f/7.1, 1/3200 manual exposure, ISO500
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28305360@N00/5181613328/" title="CE0C0328e by Blake Cook, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1345/5181613328_e1f193e0d7_o.jpg" width="1024" height="769" alt="CE0C0328e" /></a>

Blake:

As mentioned, challenging lighting conditions, and I don't think huge improvements can be made with post processing tweaking of contrast here.

It is an interesting framing effect of the eye, and I slightly prefer your post to the linked image.

Generally you want the bird angling towards you, makes for a more engaging image.

Sharp on eye and bill.

Keep working on your birds in flight. Pelicans are a good choice because they fly slowly and predictably, and often will come in pretty close.

Cheers

Randy

Thanks Randy.
I think I agree that the crop is better. I have several in this sequence that have the bird approaching, the framed eye was a bit unique. One interesting thing is that the linked image looks more natural online than it did on my laptop in PP. (I'm travelling at the moment and don't have a calibrated monitor)

Good point about the pelican's slow flight. There are a number of snipe along the beach. So far I've not managed to get one in frame any closer than about 30ft. Talk about erratic flight. :)

Cheers,
Blake

Yeah, the light was working against you here. With the bird high and heading away it doesn't work for me.