Surprise

[Ian Cassell]

I went out to the Gilbert Riparian Preserve this morning (my usual place for bird photogaphy) and was surprised to see a flock of 5 white pelicans. I've never seen them in Arizona before.

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L

1/2500 sec f/7.1 ISO 400

Nik Color Efex Pro 4
Nik Dfine 2
CS6

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Hi Ian. I was reading that here were very few white pelicans at Bosque this year; they must have got lost and ended one state over. The composition here is OK, but on my monitor the pelican looks more light gray than white. Since you have Nik Color Efex Pro 4, I'd play around with the white neutralizer preset and see if that helps. regards~Bill

[Colin Gilyeat]

Ian, Nice image. I like the composition and the fact that you can see some of the underside of the wing. Like Bill, it looks more gray than white on my monitor as well.

Colin

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Ian,

Nice picture and what a find, I love the pelicans. The upper part of the frame is a bit distracting consider a different cropping option. Moreover, less negative space on the bottom and crop of some of the darker refections that can pull the eye on the top side. The light looks nice and soft, might be a few hot pixels but overall you managed the exposure well. Good comments above not sure if it is white or gray - what did you see?

[Stan Cunningham]

Nice light, they have been there for over a couple weeks so it looks like they are staying a while.

[ChrisCallahan]

Looks to me like the light is coming from behind the bird? Nice composition, but the lighting didn't seem to get it. Maybe there are other shots from the series lit more optimally?

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for all the comments.

First, to adress the gray issue -- Bill and Colin, this guy was quite dirty gray (although most of them were lovely white). I'll need to post one of the white guys.

Chris, the light is coming over my right shoulder. Look at the shadow of the near-wing on his neck. Also I can see the small catchlight on my monitor.

Jeff, thanks for the cropping suggestions - I'll play with that.

Stan, I was out there this morning again and there are no longer 5 of them -- there were 13. I think they're sending messages to their buddies in San Diego to come east for the holidays. The egrets are going to get annoyed because these guys might start eating all the fish.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ian,

To address the color issue, I see the image as being very red/green. This means that blue is missing. I adjusted the color a little bit with the color balance filter in CS6. I saw a few White Pelicans at Bosque this year (only five), but they moved on. If you want to see mass quantities of these birds, go to the Salton Sea. Act now, because it may become history due to political pressure to provide water to the growing population of San Diego County.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for the RP, Kerry. I'm not sure, but I think the early morning light was just weak in blues (I'm not very good with that stuff). I like your changes.

Our little flock of 5 was up to 13 yesterday morning. I think the egrets are starting to get ticked off.

I'm off to Bosque on January 7 for 6 days. I would love to get some better harrier shots than I came away with last year (maybe, if I'm lucky, even a gray ghost). I may take a side trip up to the Albuquerque zoo to shoot wood ducks that I hear hang out up there.

I keep planning to take a trip to the Salton Sea. I guess I better speed things up.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Ian, Bosque will be great for you - just push the button a lot! Let me know when you want to go to the Salton Sea, I will meet you there!