Pelicans on Lake Superior

[Shawn Zierman]

Something different from a few nights ago, Knife River, Minnesota, Lake Superior.
Canon7d, Sigma50/500os (at 50mm), iso800, 1/100, f9, small crop for comp. subtle(?) NR to the bg/fg, USM.
Comments and critiques welcome.
Regards,
Shawn Zierman.

[Satish Ranadive]

Shawn,
This is extremely beautiful scape of pelicans with wonderful colors of sky and it's reflection in water.I like the island in the frame and blues in the sky at the top.
Lovely composition too.

Regards,
Satish.

[arash_hazeghi]

very cool! I love the colors. tones and the ambiance. good quality. I only wish that all pelicans had their neck stretched to give it a bit more lively mood.

the proportion between water and sky chosen very well

[christopher galeski]

beautiful,great light and colors.

[vishaljadhav]

I love this image for the sheer colour shades i find here, its fantastic.
Great choice of the sky water proportion, the placement of the island in the frame is a great choice
I love the image for the over all feel of it.

Not that this is a nit , however to my eye the island is sharper than the birds in the frame ( would a composite image with sharper birds work better ?) i really dont know if it would ,just a thought for consideration in case you encounter such a beautiful situation again in future.

[Girish Prahalad]

superb colors in the image and a very interesting comp. lovely image overall.

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely, moody image. Love seeing these small in the frame images esp in such a gorgeous settings.

[Randy Stout]

Shawn:

A very nice birdscape. I like the balance of the masses, smaller birds closer than the larger island, colors.

I could see an alternative crop down from the top, eliminating the blue. Not better, but just a different way to look at it. The layout certainly would lend itself to such a pano crop.

If the blue and clouds were a bit more dramatic, it might tip the scale, but I would consider a trial cropped as mentioned.

Personal taste, part of the fun of photography.

Randy

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Shawn, a really lovely setting captured here, and just love that the colours are natural and not overdone ( which is quite easily done with these settings ). I do like the placement of both the pelicans and island.

Are the white spots on the island more pelicans? An opportunity well used here.

[Shawn Zierman]

Thanks for the very good feedback. Stuart, the white birds on the island are nesting Herring Gulls. The dead trees on the left on the host nesting double crested cormorants. I believe those are the only two nesting species found on the island. American White Pelicans are normally not found at this location at this time of the year, so they were an unexpected bonus. I was actually just hanging out with my daughter, enjoying one of our little beach fires, when these four flew in, landed, then started swimming past the island. Always good to have the camera stuff with Here is a stab at the pano crop idea brought up by Randy.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Oh yeah, I like this lots. Great landscape / birdscape image and the colours are very soothing. Nice comp and placement of the island and pelican quartet.

[gail bisson]

Hi Shawn,
The colors are just beautiful.
I prefer the panorama crop.
I like the lead pelican "on guard" and the other 3 sleeping. Goes well with the bedtime mood.
The placement of the birds and island really balance each other very well and you did well to see this.
I think this would look awesome in print.
Gail

[Randy Stout]

Shawn:

I do like the pano crop version. One other tweak to try is just a touch of shadow lifting painted on the island. I tried it and it adds a bit more detail and texture to the island without looking unnatural. It makes it easier to tell there are other birds on the island.
It gives the eye a bit more to dwell on as it moves around the image. Just minor tweaks on top of a fine image.

Cheers

Randy

[Shawn Zierman]

Thanks Randy....nice to know that my mind is working like yours....I did process a version of this image with the island selectively lightened using a levels adjustment, prior to posting the OP. I decided that some might think it looked too HDR, but totally agree with you that it sheds some "light" onto what's going on at the island....

[Randy Stout]

Shawn:

I really try to avoid the overthetop "hdr" look, but thought this was believable and subtle enough to fly.

Cheers

Randy

[adrian dancy]

I think your image would grace any wall. I love the colours and the scene.

[Ken Hadfield]

Beautiful moody image well captured with a great eye for composition. Lovely in both formats

[David Salem]

I personally love the pano and the beautiful pastel colors to this one.
The whole scene is perfect,it would make a great print. A canvas would look great
Very nice Shawn.

[Jim Crosswell]

A real beauty Shawn! I like the colours and composition. I would print pane #10 and hang it on your wall.