Haven't you people ever seen a pelican before?

[Grace Scalzo]

Another from my holiday to Texas. My husband and another couple that we were vacationing with were photographing this most cooperative brown pelican. (We don't see pelicans on Long Island). While obviously not a rare bird, we were enjoying the photography opportunites that he was providing so all of us were focused on him with our long lenses playing with poses, exposure, dof, etc. All of a sudden, a jalopy pulled up beside us and out jumps this lady who placed her hands on her hips and in a loud voice said "What's that matter with you people, haven't you ever seen a pelican before?" It was one of the funniest human encounters that I've had in the field, never to be forgotten.

1/400, f11, iso800
Canon 1dx, 600f4 1.4tc

[John Robinson]

Love it !
maybe a slice off the left ? Cental portrait would suit this fine in my opinion/ Others will see it very differently.
A strange bird is the pelican
It's beak can hold more than more than its ==========
Greatstuff !!
cheers
John

[Dennis Zaebst]

Very nice Image Grace. I like these tight portraits. Your caption and story made me laugh!

It seems as though the Pelican himself is thinking exactly the same thing: "Really people, nothing to see here...so just move along..."

Colors are good if seeming slightly muted, but this may be due to the direction of the light. It would look wonderful hanging in your entry foyer.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the purple eye shadow. I and many others have seen young Brown Pelicans on Long Island, flying along the beaches in late summer :).

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Grace, I would apply a luminosity layer and selectively apply it, in part adjust the % of the brush too. You will be amazed at what depth and detail comes out, even on this web image. It transforms the whole image IMHO. Just a thought, but have you considered a 16x9 vertical crop?

TFS
Steve

[gail bisson]

Perfect head position.
Great colors and composition as well.
What would a luminosity layer do for this pic Steve?
gail

[Bret Goddard]

"What's the matter with you people?", thats funny, typical. I love it, though maybe a bit bright on the spot just above the wing? Fantastic look, Grand job!

[Grace Scalzo]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! Artie, yes, the occaisional pelican does fly by here in Long Island, maybe one or two per year, according to birding reports. I should have said that we very rarely see brown pelicans on Long Island. Steve, I'm going to investigate this as I know exactly nothing about luminosity masks, what they would accomplish and how to do them. Do you have a good link to some instruction? Otherwise, I'll research. Will also try your crop suggestion. Bret, great catch, I will tone that down.

[Holger Leyrer]

Wonderful close up. Like the low angle and the colors on head and beak. The details in the plumage and the fixed stare are great

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Grace, I think Rachel added something in Workflow. It's something that stemmed from Landscape PP, it just bolsters the image. Like anything, you need to use it sparingly and perhaps with, as I said, with % brushes and a mask to achieve the final result , but as always, I apply my comments to the image, in that way I know it works IMHO.

[Marina Scarr]

Quite a thought-provoking image of a common subject, Grace, and I love your title. You have super details, as always, and I love your comp. The image works as is but a luminosity mask could possibly improve it every so slightly.

[Karl Egressy]

Great composition and nice colors, Grace.

[Diane Miller]

Nice image! And wonderful story!! There's a sign on the road in Rockport that says "Pelican Parking" but I was disappointed to find it's for cars.

It's been a while since I looked at the luminosity mask tutorial but it could help here, assuming you've gone as far as you can to bring down highlights (and lighten the darks) in the RAW converter. It will let you darken the lighter tones without messing with the darker ones, but you'll need a "second order" or even third order selection. Just use the resulting selection to mask a Curves layer, pulling down the middle -- that's all that's needed. (And an inversed mask will let you work on darks selectively.)

For more information check out Tony Kuyper's web site.

Here's a quickie -- third order: Cmd-click the RGB channel in Channels panel to select the tones > 50% light, then two Cmd-Alt-Shift clicks to narrow it down to successively lighter tones. Then with the selection in effect just make a Curves layer and just pull down the middle. Took 17 seconds.

[David Salem]

Hi Grace, I like the head on stare and the nice colors to this guy. The detail and exposure look great. Pretty funny story. I can imagine this person looking at you guys all shooting this bird and wondering what was so special about a Pelican. TFS

[vishaljadhav]

Lovely image, i love the look

Here in India we face this many times, we struggling to shoot a bird and guy come walking asking what are you trying to do there