Amercian White Pelican Portrait

[John Guastella]

Taken at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary on Sept. 25. These birds spend the fall and part of the winter at this sanctuary, providing some great photo opportunities for those willing to walk more than 20 feet from the parking lot!

Based on the color of the bill and the prominent crest, I believe this is a mature adult.

Canon 7D & 400mm f/5.6. Aperture priority with evaluative metering and -2/3EC; f/8 at 1/6400sec (why 1/6400sec? ask the camera...); ISO 400.

Thanks for looking,

John

[Gal Shon]

wonderful exposure, that's a lovely image. sharpness, colors and HA are very good as well.
I woud take a bit off the bottom and would add some above.

[Doug Brown]

Whites are nicely controlled; you probably have room to go a little brighter IMO. Head angle is pretty good. I like the water droplets coming off the tip of the bill. And I agree with Gal's crop suggestion.

[stuart wanuck]

great color good whites

[Gary Jones]

Whites well handled. Nice HA and the drops add the extra. Also nice that the Pelican is in full colour, else they can be quite dull.

[John Guastella]

Thanks, everyone. Here's a repost that is brighter and with the recommended crop revision. I also backed off on the sharpening - it seemed like, with the brightening, this bird needed to be a bit softer.

John Guastella

[Doug Brown]

I like the brighter whites John. The crop works better too.