Cormorants Beware!

[WIlliam Maroldo]

SonyA700~Sony70-400G@400mm~ISO400~F6.3~1/2500sec~manual exposure~HH~12-28-2009~flood control reservoir~ Houston, Texas~CS4
I think the white pelican had enough of the cormorants interfering with the important breakfast that was underway and chased this one down, and caught him. After a stern scolding the cormorant was released unharmed (as far as I could tell).
The lighting was high contrast, direct early morning sunlight, after a nice cloud cover dissipated. Bummer. Without cloud cover my keeper rate drops precipitously. Blown whites, dark detail-less shadows in the same image? Way too much trouble!
comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

[Lance Peters]

Hi Bill - your post was showing as a CLOSED thread - I have opened it - figured this is what you wanted as you have asked for comments and critique.

[Nonda Surratt]

I quite like the light and the colors Bill, good job! Very interesting behavior image.

[Colin Knight]

Very interesting behavior. How about a tighter crop to focus a bit more on the action?

Colin

[Bob Decker]

Very interesting shot. Never really thought of pelicans as being territorial. Wish there was a little more canvas on the right... maybe place the birds a tad more towards the bottom. It feels a little better if I move it so it's clipped right about at the shadow in the water.

[Dave Woeller]

A nice shot and a good story to go with it. I agree with a slightly tighter crop, but also agree that you did very well under tough lighting conditions.

[Kristin Brown]

I agree with the tighter crop. I like the action! Might do something with the dark foreground though...