Pelican Portrait

[Jory Griesman]

Taken last week from James Shadle's Hooptie. I wanted to give the viewers a spoonie rest, so here's a pelican portrait, before I post more spoonies. A bit tight at the top, but just more mangrove, so I cropped it as you see it. I was going to burn the whites a bit, but on closer inspection, they did not look oversaturated/"blinkied", so left them.

Nikon D700, 600 mm f/4 VR, @ f/6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 800, -1.3 EV

[Art Kornienko]

Pelican position is nice, would have preferred a less busy bg and more light on the head.

[joel quenneville]

I love your crop and the way the leaves in the FG "frame" the bird. Your pose, sharpness and feather detail are all good here. Did you use fill-flash? More light on the head and breast would improve this one. I would also recommend adding a gradient to the upper right corner.

[Steve Canuel]

I like the pose of the bird. BG doesn't bother me as I think the detail that is visible seems natural with the sharper FG leaves.