I think this one in injured as I first saw it in the morning curled on the edge of a pond. I was at least happy to see it swimming later, trying to scoop something, anything from the pond to eat. I used the 1D Mark IV, ISO 400, 300 + 2X TC, F/13.0, 1/2000. HH resting against vehicle. C&C greatly appreciated.
This is a beautiful bird and I too hope he is well. Peter's comments are spot-on,..
The f/13 is more of a wide angle approach (approaching what is called a story telling lens) this is probably a f/8 or smaller shot since you are focusing on one specific subject. The larger apertures provides more light (bigger opening) and we can raise shutter speeds for sharper detail. In bird photography detail and sharpness are critical. You have a nice cameral kit and bracing the 600mm shows good field technique. You actually did a nice job controlling the whites and not over exposing the image, well done.
The composition and subject placement offers opportunities, try and get a well lit eye and capture the subject approaching not leaving. You are on the right track keep posting and when zooming in at 600MM you want to be sharp set the exposure accordingly,..show me more!!!
Curious, do you have the 300 f/4 or 2.8?
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 02-14-2013 at 06:19 PM.
Lovely pelican and very well exposed with nice colors. It sounds to me like the normal behavior of a white pelican. They actually scoop their food out of the water while brown pelicans dive.
With the 2x TC on the 300 2.8, your best bet is one stop under wide open which would have put you at F8. I don't necessarily think the F13 hurts this image, and you obviously had enough light for it. It might have been beneficial had you more than one bird in the frame.
Did you capture any images where the pelican was facing you just a little more? I think that would have been more pleasing. Your image needs a slight CCW rotation. You can tell by lining up the bird's chest to its reflection.
White Pelican
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