Pelican as Art -- Or Not?

[Arthur Morris]

Brown Pelican — rear view of head and neck — abstract

This image was created on 21 January 2020 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the a9 II (now replaced by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 5:106pm on a partly cloudy afternoon. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be 1/3-stop too dark.

Flexible Spot (M)/AF-C performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
​Learn more about the creation of this image (and two more neat pelican shots) in the You Must Always See the Bird's Eye! Or Not? blog post here.

As for the image, don't be shy. All comments are welcome even if you hate it :)

with love, artie

[Andreas Liedmann]

hi Arthur ... unusual for sure for the most part , I rather like to see something different or ootb at times .
not sure if I would call it " art " .... but " art" is subjective .
i do like the overall color palette and the simplicity of this capture .
I think I would not get the idea to shoot something like this ....

from an artistic pov it does work

tfs Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

I am not an artistic person so I am struggling a bit here Artie. Technically looks fine in terms of details and colours. In terms of what it is I would not have known - could have even been a crane for all I know. I suppose I am really saying I don't understand the image as opposed to saying I don't like it.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I love the colours, patterns, and textures...and the bit of red, but overall it's not clicking fully for me. Visiting your blog post about it, I must say that the image #1 there is truly fantastic though!

[Arthur Morris]

I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I love the colours, patterns, and textures...and the bit of red, but overall it's not clicking fully for me. Visiting your blog post about it, I must say that the image #1 there is truly fantastic though!

Thanks, Dan. Different strokes. I'd probably put this one in my top 25 all time. But then you gotta ask yourself, "What the heck does he know?" Nobody on the blog liked it either. But Ido :)

with love, artie

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Artie, I have come back to this several times. When I saw it posted on your blog and you asked which was your favorite I thought this might be your favorite. As an abstract I think it works. I probably would not have chosen a 2x3 crop, maybe 4x5. It is the type of image that makes one ask "What is that?". Beautiful colors, good feather detail. Thank you for sharing.

[Paul Burdett]

Photography is a funny business. More often than not we take what we hope are good images that follow a prescribed "set of rules"...such as in focus, compositional aspects such as rule of thirds etc, clean backgrounds, correct exposure, processing etc etc. When we deviate from these things then the feedback we receive is often critical. So, what represents a good image? In my view it's one that is liked by the person that took it, and hopefully it says something to the viewer, creates an atmosphere, or makes one think in some way. This image does just that for me...it has lovely colours, lovely detail, sharp in the centre with a softness in the whites around the bird's head which I find appealing. Most of all though, I really do like this image as it presents something "different"...yes, we can't see the bird's eyes to make the "traditional connection", but the view presented forces me to delve into the feather patterns and details, to appreciate that part of the bird we don't normally place importance in and to appreciate the warmth and cosy mood this image creates. Finally...yes, an artistic image for sure.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks a stack, Paul. You and I are among the few ho like this one :). I love it.

with love, artie