Pelican in flight

[Hilary Hann]

Photographed at Lake Nakuru
Canon 20D; 75-300mm @ 185mm; ISO 400; 1/1000; f11

PP; added gaussian blur to background after extracting BIF. Desaturated background and added flamingo colour back. Main pelican sharpened, levels, shadows and highlights to extract more detail in the whites.

Not sure whether I've overdone it or not so very interested in all comments. Thanks.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice shot Hillary, first issue to consider is that Gaussian blur will look a bit unnatural for a panning shot, it is better to apply horizontal motion blur. I would also tone down the BG as the whites are a bit hot and distracting. sharpness looks good on the flying pelican some areas may need a bit lightening up. I like the pano crop!

[Harshad Barve]

nice pose and sharpness looks good , too busy BG is biggest issue here IMHO
TFS

[Dave Leroy]

I am not sure if the bif looks a bit pasted back in or not. It certainly stands out. Interesting comment about horizonatl blur. BG is busy and suggest you lose the zebra given how close it is to the bif. Dave

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks for all the comments. The background is a bit busy, but I wanted the BIF to be in his environment instead of the customary sky or clear background. It looks a bit overworked to me as I think I didn't give enough thought to the aperture and time. I did re work it using suggestions offered but liked it less so will move on. :)