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Thread: In honor of Pelican Week, another Brown Pelican (Pelicans occidentalis) at the Salton Sea

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    BPN Member Jim Keener's Avatar
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    Default In honor of Pelican Week, another Brown Pelican (Pelicans occidentalis) at the Salton Sea

    I was about 15 feet above water level, and as Brown Pelicans often skim the surface before diving, I was above most of those that flew by, left to right. This one was a bit higher, and I chose it because of its wing position. The others, of course when skimming, had their wings straight out.

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    ORIGINAL
    Name:  20160111-bif-brown-pelican-original-7292.jpg
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    1DX, 500/4
    tripod/gimbal
    1/2000, f/4, ISO 500
    AF pont expansion (8 points), back button focus, AI Servo

    LR: +shadows, -highlights, +clarity and vibrance, blue +saturation, orange +saturation, yellow +saturation, -luminance
    PS: smart sharpened

    I'm eager to learn from your c&c.

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    Jim, I'm really enjoying these pelican images. We don't have the brown ones, so a bit of a treat. Do they have feathers on their head? Just a side note before I "critique". You're images always appear quite a bit smaller than mine, and others. I was wondering if you are uploading them to their full potential?

    I like the composition and the PP you have used. Sharp where it needs to be. Very effective. The blue colour around, in front of his eye matches the sky and the yellow head and breast feathers compliments nicely also. My only wish would be able to see his legs under his wing.

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    BPN Member Jim Keener's Avatar
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    I kept looking for the legs, too. They're not visible in any of the shots I made of these birds that afternoon. Perhaps that's why they're such excellent skimmers. I used to watch these, entranced, in the early morning at Limantour Beach at the Point Reyes National Seashore. They would come gliding by just above the waves. Very serious, you know. I could almost hear the theme song from Jaws. Anyway. No legs.

    I'm not certain what they're called, feathers probably, but the head and back of the neck are covered in very fine "feathers". I checked Artie's blog today, and my guy's look very close to his with a 200% magnification in LR. This includes the little tuft at the back of the head.
    Last edited by Jim Keener; 01-13-2016 at 01:36 AM. Reason: Added information about head and neck feathers.

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    BPN Member Jim Keener's Avatar
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    Glennie, I like that you're in Australia and that I get feedback the same night I post.

    Simple misunderstanding on my part about image size. I originally thought the long edge limit was 400 pixels, then thought I saw a limit of 1000, which this is. And I just went back and learned that it's 1200 pixels. Oh, so much to learn.

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    Jim, This is why we're here! To learn. You are doing a mighty fine job. Thank you for clarifying the feathering on the back of the neck. So beautiful.

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    I really like this one Jim. Splendid Job.

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    I really like the crop and processing here. Good detail and sharpness for that much crop. And a very nice oncoming angle. No nits, except to try to get closer for even more stunning detail -- but you know that and it's not usually possible.

    The image size needs to fit in a box 1200 wide x 1000 tall, and 400 KB max.

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