Brown Pelican

[Fred Bourque]

Gear....down and locked......Flaps......extended....check!



50D
Sigma 150-500mm @ 403mm, handheld
ISO 640
F8
1/500
Auto WB

[Ramon M. Casares]

I'd try to desaturate the red channel a bit, but the pose, detail, comp and ambient are very very nice, light angle was not ideal, but you managed to get a very good exposure! Congratulations!

[Gary Zim]

Brace for impact! great shot, very nice detail.
Gary

[Jeff Nadler]

Love the lighting and saturation!

[Fred Bourque]

Thanks again folks for the kind comments.
Ramon...I didnt think of that. Thanks for the suggestion. Still learning.

[joel quenneville]

Fred,

You have done a great job on stopping the action here. Your BG gives a sense of environment and the bird is sharp with good feather detail. As mentioned by Ramon, your lighting was not ideal. The white patch above his head seems to be blown on my monitor. Although I love the lighting on the wing, I find that it tends to pull my eye away from the bird's head. This is because the human eye is attracted to the brightest area of an image. I have found that using fill flash really helps when shooting with a less than ideal light angle.

[Fred Bourque]

Joel, Thanks for the comments, normally I would have had a flash ready, but I was in a hurry to catch some of the action, I plumb forgot to grab it on the way out of the truck.....:(:D, Lesson learned;)

Fred

Fred,

You have done a great job on stopping the action here. Your BG gives a sense of environment and the bird is sharp with good feather detail. As mentioned by Ramon, your lighting was not ideal. The white patch above his head seems to be blown on my monitor. Although I love the lighting on the wing, I find that it tends to pull my eye away from the bird's head. This is because the human eye is attracted to the brightest area of an image. I have found that using fill flash really helps when shooting with a less than ideal light angle.

[Chris Kotze]

What a super looking bird. Great angle captured

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Hi Fred, from a fellow Texan!
I think the lighting is indeed the biggest problem. I also don't think a flash would help. Basically the bird is largely backlight, which is always problematic. If you wanted a high key background, a sillohette, or backlight light shining though the raised feathers of a great egret for example, backlighting is actually an advantage. In any case, it won't work here.
As a matter of fact, bright sunshine is the absolute worst condition to shoot pelicans, and most birds for that matter. Even if you are positioned optimally, dark detailess shadows of a wing on the body, or under the wings are virtually unrecoverable.
Believe me, go out on an overcast day (actually bright overcast is the best). Don't use a flash, use an appropriate ISO, usually 650-800) and f8 would be called for as I noticed you used here for such a big bird. Overexposure, but not blowing out the whites(use your histogram), greatly reduces noise, and noise-reduction programs(which reduce detail) generally aren't needed. Just reduce exposure post-processing, you will be amazed how much detail will still be in the RAW image, and how little noise. Underexposure is where noise comes from. Take any underexposed image, even at ISO 100, increase brightness and you will get noise.
I heard on the radio that the Texas City Dike will soon be undergoing a big reconstruction project that should be finished by the end of August. I can't wait.
regards~Bill

[Fred Bourque]

Hello Bill,
Thanks a bunch for the great info. Thats one of the reasons I post here. All the great experence and knowlege will surely to rub off on me soon :D.
As for the dike, As you might know, it crosses 2 counties, Galveston and Chambers. Also with it being a Amry corp project, there was a lot of who is doing what going on. I think they have finally reached an agreement on the funding so they can proceed with the repairs. Ive also heard that they will start charging a small fee to use the dike after the repairs are completed.
I grew up in this area, and have really missed being able to use the dike for launching the boat or just some photo ops of the birds. Hopefully charging will keep a good bit of the undesirables out and make it a fun place again.
Thanks again
Fred

Hi Fred, from a fellow Texan!
I think the lighting is indeed the biggest problem. I also don't think a flash would help. Basically the bird is largely backlight, which is always problematic. If you wanted a high key background, a sillohette, or backlight light shining though the raised feathers of a great egret for example, backlighting is actually an advantage. In any case, it won't work here.
As a matter of fact, bright sunshine is the absolute worst condition to shoot pelicans, and most birds for that matter. Even if you are positioned optimally, dark detailess shadows of a wing on the body, or under the wings are virtually unrecoverable.
Believe me, go out on an overcast day (actually bright overcast is the best). Don't use a flash, use an appropriate ISO, usually 650-800) and f8 would be called for as I noticed you used here for such a big bird. Overexposure, but not blowing out the whites(use your histogram), greatly reduces noise, and noise-reduction programs(which reduce detail) generally aren't needed. Just reduce exposure post-processing, you will be amazed how much detail will still be in the RAW image, and how little noise. Underexposure is where noise comes from. Take any underexposed image, even at ISO 100, increase brightness and you will get noise.
I heard on the radio that the Texas City Dike will soon be undergoing a big reconstruction project that should be finished by the end of August. I can't wait.
regards~Bill

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Fred-keep the the undesirables out. I'm definitely for that. For a month or so after Ike I'd walk out on the dike and take lots of pictures of the aftermath, until some of those undesirables jacked with construction equipment, and then the no trespassing signs went up. Been going out there for 35 years, wade fishing, and great bird photography from the comfort of my truck. Anyway, Brazos Bens State Park has been pretty decent this year, but you have to park your vehicle and walk, usually several miles at a minimum. Regards~Bill