Old Man Pelican...

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Everyone,
Just one more pelican close-up for you:)
400D 100-400mm @400
AV F8 1/200 sec
EV metering 0.07 exp comp
Look forwards to your C&C's as always!
Regards to all,
Nicki

[Lance Peters]

Hi Nicki - Playing with the Pelicans again - hey :)

I like this - nicely done.
Looks a little flat on my screen, I would ligthen it a little and try to give it a little more punch. Would also sharpen the eye to make it pop and maybe another round of overall sharpening as well.

:)

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Nicki,
I like the close up pose. I took the liberty to enhance your image just a tad by boosting the contrast, the hue and saturation and sprinkled a wee bit of sharpening. Hope you like...:cool:

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Lance and Gus,
As soon as I posted this I thought that it looked too dark! Gus, I think that your repost still looks a little dark, so I had another go!!:) Is this any better/different?
Regards,
Nicki

[Alfred Forns]

I like the tight composition Nicki Do remember the head angle Just as important here Seems a little looking away?

For these the eye becomes even more important since its so prominent Try lightening and increasing the yellows !!! ... btw I think this bird needs to go for a session with a groomer ... the sooner the better :)

[Julie Kenward]

Alfred nailed it! I kept looking at each repost thinking, "When is someone going to lighten his eye!

Nicki, when you have a photo where the pattern or texture is one of the main focal elements (as this image obviously is) then always go with more contrast so it really shows it off! You really nailed this one for focus and interest!

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Al,
Now I see what you mean by lightening the eye - you REALLY lightened the eye!!!!! Thanks for the advice about the contrast Jules - I'm learning so much on this site.
Regards,
Nicki
PS Al, I'll be sure to get the pelican to the grooming salon....:eek:

[Nonda Surratt]

Love the crop Nicki! Alfred's re-post did the trick!

[Alfred Forns]

Btw for the eye .... I just selected with quick mask, lighten then color corrected to turn yellow and that is it !!!

[Katie Rupp]

This is a great post for learning: a good photograph to start and then successive suggestions for improvement with demonstrations and explanations and a really good final image. I appreciate Julie's tip about contrast with texture, it makes so much sense but I'd never heard that before. Thank you all!

I haven't had much time lately to participate but looking forward to edging back in; I miss you all.

[Alfred Forns]

...... that might get you twenty lashes Katie :)

[Harold Davis]

i love al's repost. awesome base image nicki!! great detail and cool composition!! nice job.

[Alberto Oria]

Niki I like very much your image, this thread has been very instructive