Pelican in the dark

[Steen Torner]

This image is from a trip to Lake Kerkini in Greece last month.

Before leaving home, I had hoped for some low-key images of the Dalmatian pelicans and finally on the last afternoon the sun was out and I managed to make a few.

Canon 1DX Mark II and Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM - handheld.
1/4000 sec at f/8.0 and ISO 400 - manual exposure.

The image is uncropped. During development, I have changed the exposure by -0.44 and blacks by -80 plus a few minor changes.

Please let me have your critique.

Regards Steen

[Isaac Grant]

I very much like the white pelican against the dark background. The problem I have is that the bird just looks really gray and not sure it is realistic. Did you lower the exposure and the blacks on the bird as well or just the background?

[gail bisson]

I have to agree with Isaac 100% here. The bird does not look white. I would bring the bird back to its original white and just do the changes on the BG.
Love the wings up position and the water spray from the landing.
Gail

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

I agree with the comments. Increasing the exposure on the bird will help the image a lot

[Noel Heustis]

Steen - I absolutely love the idea behind this shot! You did a great job of anticipating the amount of space you would need vertically when it landed (or took flight). Those are such cool looking birds. I'm looking forward to seeing a repost. Thank you for sharing.

[Steen Torner]

Thanks for your comments.

I agree that the pelican has become too gray. However, as I made global adjustments in Lightroom, the changes also affected the bird. Below is how the original image looks without any adjustment in exposure and blacks.

Regards Steen

[Mike Poole]

It definitely has the potential to be a really nice arty style shot, just needs some selective work in PP - I'd say its worth the effort as the initial frame is very nice with the pose and the water drops

Mike