Pretty in Pastel ...

[Arthur Morris]

American White Pelican immature in soft light

This image was created on Wednesday 24 February 2021 at my favorite Lakeland morning spot. I used the InduroGIT 404L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter, and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the exposure here to be perfect. AWB at 7:45am on a partly cloudy morning.
Upper Right Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

To learn more about the creation of this image, check out the blog post here.

As for the image, don't be shy; all comments are welcome and appreciated.

with love, a

[Arthur Morris]

For those of you who do not know what a SONY Zebra is. (Note; the R5 has Zebras only for video. That is totally insane ...

with love, a


Why Zebras?

Kapil Kapre left this comment (for moderation) at the Too Cute blog post:

I have access to live zebras on my Sony, but I turn them off because they distract me. I do understand the benefit of zebras, and logically they seem like they would help a lot. But practically, how often are you in a situation where you need to quickly set a new exposure and don’t have time for a test shot? I’m sure it’s different for everyone, for me there’s always time for a quick test shot as I deliberate a bit on the composition and/or wait for a specific pose, etc. Or maybe I’m just too slow ��

I knew that Kapil’s question warranted a thoughtful response. I was pretty sure from his comment that he does not have the Sony Camera User’s e-Guide. I e-mailed him and confirmed that. So here goes:
Kapil, I wish that you could have been with me this morning in Lakeland photographing the American White Pelicans. The sun was going in and out every minute. Without exaggeration, I had my thumb on the big rear wheel and was changing the exposures (by changing the ISO) several times a minute. Even a shift of the bird’s head position can change the intensity of the Zebras (and require a small adjustment). Do understand that Zebras at the camera’s default settings are 100% worthless. In the aforementioned guide, we teach you exactly how to set up the Zebras and how to use them in the field. Then, in nearly all circumstances, you aim for faint Zebras.

So the answer to your question is very often! And it is not different for anyone who wants to learn to make good exposures consistently. Not to mention that when I switched over to a cormorant, a coot, or a Wood Duck, Zebras, again — set up properly, allowed me to routinely attain excellent or perfect exposures. Do understand that subjects of different tonalities require different amounts of light to be properly exposed. White subjects need less light than middle-toned subject to be properly exposed, and dark subjects need more light than middle-toned subjects to be properly exposed. Best advice on learning exposure theory is to consult the section on that topic in the original The Art of Bird Photography.

On a final note, there are times — not very often, that I turn off Zebras to avoid the distractions. And yes, we cover those situations in the guide.

For me, turning off Zebras is like turning off the jet engines because they are too loud. While you are flying …

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Artie, love the pastel colors, magical light. A lovely image of one of the white pelicans at Lake Morton. Dot and I are going there tomorrow morning, will let you know what we find. Thank you for sharing.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Soft Colors.

I like the background colors.

TFS

[Andreas Liedmann]

Lovely soft colors and tones .
Personally I would prefer slightly more canvas ...

TFS Andreas

[annmpacheco]

the pastels really compliment this detailed head shot, so pretty, it reminds me that Spring is soon to be here!

[Kurt Bowman]

Absolutely love the pastels in the BG. Goes well with this subject. The Pelican looks great, techs all top notch. Nice work!

[Vaughn Larsen]

Great capture of the pastels. Reminds me of cotton candy. White seems right on, pink and blues are subtle but definitely visible, really brings my eye up and down the long bill multiple times. Nice work.
.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love head portraits, and this one ticks all the boxes for me. Gorgeous colours!