Merritt Island White Pelican Take-off

[Robert vanMierop]

Shot a few days ago from my kayak, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in four inches of water. Nikon D300, 300/4 @ 5.6, 1/4000, iso 400, -0.3ev

[allanrube]

Excellent. The kayak makes a big difference as most shots from MI are from too high an angle.

[Troy Lim]

Whites are nice...love to splash of water in the frame. I would add just a tad more room all around.

[Satish Ranadive]

Beautiful take off pose captured.Love the wing position,details in whites and flash of water.
Wish image was in 1024pix.

Regards,
Satish.

[PhilCook]

Nice timing with the little explosive splash behind, nice blue water/sky color as well, myself I'd like to see a little more room on the right for the bird to fly into so to speak

[vishaljadhav]

The timing on the shot is lovely, the splash adds a lot to the image
Only that i would have loved a tad more space in front of the bird to over all balance of the image.
Over all a wonderful image

[Melissa Groo]

I love your low angle and that take off pose, as well as the splash that helps tell the story. Definitely could see more room all around but esp in front.

[stuart wanuck]

Nice how do you keep your gear safe in kayak?

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Robert,

Really like the angle that you were able to shoot this at. Couldn't have asked for any better. Colors are great, and the detail in the whites is very nicely controlled.

If you happen to have more room behind (showing the water trail), I would be inclined to show it while keeping a pano-ish composition. If you don't, then I might add some to the front. Either way, it's a nicely captured frame!

Miguel

[Daniel Cadieux]

I could definitely see some more at left as per Miguel's suggestion, but still like as is. Nice low angle and take-off action. Great job on the whites. I would have loved for the wing to be extended a bit more to have the primaries clear the rest of the wing, and as posted the BG could use some NR.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent landing pose. Love the splash of the water.

[Robert vanMierop]

Nice how do you keep your gear safe in kayak?

Thanks for the comments. I carry the camera and lens in a waterproof duffel bag that sits on my lap while I paddle. The bag's shoulder strap stays around my neck. It's very simple and not at all cumbersome, but you have to handle the gear just as you would if you were walking on concrete...hang on. I have a Wilderness Systems, Tarpon 120 that is stable enough and it tracks well. Most of the water I'm in, around Merritt Island, is shallow enough so if worse comes to worse, I can stand up. That, and some luck, keeps things safe and dry. (Merritt has 'gators longer than the 12' yak, now THAT'S a good time.)